Lepakshi Nandi

Lepakshi  Nandi

The nandi is situated about 200 meters from the main temple. The sixth praakaram originally  extended upto the nandi. Now streets and town houses (and an APTDC guest house) intervene. 

The Granite nandi  measuring 8 M length and 6 M high is considered to be the largest Nandi in the world. The one in Thanjavur is second.  Even among monoliths, it stands on top, second only to Gomateswara. I did a rough calculation of the mass of the bull. At 8x5x 2.5 (aprox) it should weigh at least 250 tonnes considering density of granite to be 2.5 T/ Cu.M

The crouching bull is facing the Naga linga at the temple and strikes a very natural and elegant pose. The garlands, kaasu malai and mani malai are remarkable for their exquisite finish. 

Temples of Bhatkal

We found the 16th century temples of Bhatkal rather serendipitous. We were driving from Udipi to Murudeshwar and wanted to stop at Bhatkal on the way to see some ancient mosques and other heritage sites. quite accidentally we saw the Jattappa Chandranath basadi on the way. This was being restored by ASI. The junior staff of ASI were very helpful and above all enthusiastic about the heritage. They guided us to the other temples too

 ASI is in the process of restoring these temples. It must be an uphill task as they are in very bad condition. Some of them are inside private property where modern houses have come up.

More Mahishasura mardhinis

Kailasanatha Temple,Kanchipuram 8th Century?

Baijnath Temple, Himachal Pradesh 

Bhishma on bed of arrows at Angkor Wat

When I wrote about Bhishma on the bed of arrows at Pattadakkal, (click here)  I had heard about a similar image at Angkor Wat. My dream of seeing this came true last fortnight, when I visited Bali and Angkor Wat with my batchmates at IIM, Ahmedabad .

This is on the Southern Gallery at the Western entrance to Angkor Wat.

Angkor wat is perhaps the largest temple in the world. It was built in the 12th century by Suryavarman II of Cambodia and was dedicated to Lord Vishnu. Later, it was converted to a Buddhist temple. Like other monuments in Cambodia, Angkor Wat blends Buddhist and Hindu imagery and legends.

Incidentally, image of this temple appears in the country's flag.