A visit to Mukteswar and Kedar Gauri Temple in Bhubaneswar

A visit to Mukteswar and Kedar Gauri Temple in Bhubaneswar. On the day of our return journey i.e on the 5th day of our Puri-Bhubaneswar trip, we spent some time enjoying and of course admiring the awesome architecture of Mukteswar temple in Bhubaneswar. The finesse of sculpting work of the ancient artisans is noteworthy at this temple.

The Pancha Bhoota Shivalinga Temples in South India

The Pancha Bhoota Shivalinga Temples in South India. According to Hinduism the entire physical existence is a combination of physical elements. These five elements are known as Pancha Bhootas. The five elements are Prithvi (Earth i.e the solid state), Aakaash (Space / Ether), Agni (Fire), Jal (Water i.e the liquid state) and Vaayu (Air i.e the gaseous state) - the states of matter according to science.

The beauty of spring blooms.

The beauty of spring blooms. I am a nature-lover and enjoy taking clicks of the beauty of nature. Spring season is the most beautiful one with colorful blooms all around. Mother Nature get a fresh look after the dry dead winter season.

Enjoy a ride on the Vizag-Bhimli beach road


Bhimli is a small fishing hamlet near Visakhapatnam in the north coastal Andhra Pradesh, nearly 25 Km from the city. The local youth of Vizag take pleasure in having a bike ride on the 26 Km stretch of Vizag-Bhimli beach road. A drive in the cab on the beach road is equally enjoyable with the lush greens of the beautifully landscaped avenues on one side, view points at few places on beachfront and the beautiful sea view on the other side.

Visual feast of Odisha temple architecture at Konark in Odisha

Visual feast of Odisha temple architecture at Konark in Odisha. In our recent short family vacation to Bhubaneswar, we visited Lingaraj temple on day 1 i.e on Makara Sankranti day. On day 2, we visited the ancient historical Khandagiri Udayagiri caves. On day 4 we visited Lord Jagannath temple in Puri, spent some time at Puri beach and savored my favorite eatables i.e crispy 'jhal mudi', hot hot 'singada', sweet and soft 'chum chum' and 'rasogolla'. Hmmm! Yummy!

Architectural excellence of 1000 pillar temple at Hanamkonda in Warangal

As mentioned in my previous post, we had been to Hanamkonda on a recent official trip. On Srirama Navami day, we had the darshan of Goddess Bhadrakali in the ancient Bhadrakali temple. From here we made our way to the famous World Heritage Site i.e the thousand pillar temple which is not far off from Bhadrakali temple.

1000 pillar temple is known as 'Veyyistambhala Gudi' in Telugu language. This is an ancient temple with historical importance that dates back to the Chalukya period. 1000 pillar temple is one of the topmost tourist attractions of Telangana. The temple is in the tentative list of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites along with other two sites of the place i.e Warangal Fort and Ramappa Temple, which are of historical importance.

Let's have a peep into the history of the famous ancient temple. The temple stands as an architectural excellence of the Kakatiya rule. It is the masterpiece of architectural skills of the Kakatiya period and depicts the Chalukyan style of architecture. The temple was constructed in the 12th century C.E (Current Era) by King Rudra Deva.

There are three shrines dedicated to Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu and Surya Deva, inside the temple. However, the main deity of the temple is Sri Rudreswara Swamy which is one of the names of Lord Shiva. There is a huge monolithic statue of Nandi - the Divine Bull which is made of black basalt rock. This is the 'vahanam' i.e the divine vehicle of Lord Shiva. This is one of the main attractions of the temple where tourists take clicks.

The temple stands on a one metre high platform and is built in a star shape. The temple is supported by finely carved stone pillars. Hence the name 1000 pillar temple. You will awed to see the architectural expertise of the period. There are even finely carved sculptures on the temple walls.

We were astonished at the architectural wonder as inspite of the scorching heat outside, it's literally too cool inside the temple. You don't need ACs or air coolers inside to keep you cool. Hats off to the engineering excellence of the craftsmen of the ancient times and the techniques adopted those days to keep you cool with no ACs and air coolers.

This really gave me a thought. How nice it would be, if only those age old engineering techniques could be adopted in the present days construction works, so that there could be much of energy saving and less of environmental pollution.

In addition to the architectural marvel, the ancient star shaped temple stands a testimony of time. The temple is easily reachable as it is located in the heart of the city. It remains open for the tourists from 5 a.m to 9 p.m on all the 7 days of the week. The govt of Telangana along with the Tourism Dept and taking all necessary steps to preserve the ancient architecture excellence of the Kakatiya period.

Of course, there is much of shopping around the temple where you can get antique collections and divine materials. Though a hectic visit, yet it was a great trip as we got an opportunity to peep into the history and our rich cultural heritage. Great experience.

Peep into the tribal life at Chenchu Lakshmi Tribal Museum in Srisailam

Comparatively it's a small museum yet worth a visit, particularly for those who are keen on having a peep into the Indian tribal life / culture. Museum opens at 8.30 a.m and closes at 8 p.m. There are very few visitors at this place, may be many don't know that there is one such museum in Srisailam. The entry ticket is at a very low price i.e Rs.20/- per person and Rs.10/- per child for children in the age group of 5 to 10 years.






On entering inside the gate, you can see properly maintained greenery and some ethnic structures all around.


In the garden, there is life-size statutes of a tribal couple and


the statue of Chenchu Lakshmi.


Let me give you a briefing on 'Chenchu Lakshmi'. According to legends, it is believed that Goddess Lakshmi Devi incarnated as an adivasi (tribal) woman in the Chenchu tribal community. She was a brave woman and skilled archer who married to Lord Narasimha Swamy in His human form.

On entering inside the museum through the arch shaped structure,



you can see the life-size statue of an Adivasi (tribal) snake charmer sitting on stones in front of the ant hill in a typical posture and playing music with the traditional piper.



After clicking this wonderful tribal statue, I was told that taking photos inside the museum is strictly prohibited. So, I kept my cam inside the bag, went round the museum to have a glimpse of the Indian tribes and their lifestyle.



As you go up the stairs, you can see a tribal couple sitting inside a thatched hut and extracting honey from the comb while a man repairs his bow standing out the hut. You can see the typical ethnic house hold stuff like earthen pot, bamboo containers and a dappu (local traditional drum).



On going further up the stairs, there is the statue of a man repairing his dappu inside the hut. Few local stuff like the two-piece grinding stone (known as 'tiragali' in Telugu language), a bamboo basket and few iron things scattered inside the hut.



Likewise, you get to see the tribal life / culture of following Indian tribal communities:



Khond - Khonds live in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Bihar. They are also called Khands.



Yerukala - 'Yerukala' community lives in Andhra Pradesh and they call themselves 'kurru'. The women of this community are basically fortune-tellers. However, their population is gradually diminishing. They speak Yerukala language.



Savara -  Savaras live in the Eastern Ghats of Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts. They make their settlements on the hill slopes. They speak Savara language.



Yanadi - Yanadi tribal community live in the districts of Nellore, Chittoor and Prakasam districts of Andhra Pradesh. They mingle with the non-tribal community and speak Telugu language.



Gond - Gonds live in Central India and are concentrated in the Bastar district of Chhattisgarh. They are spread in Madhya Pradesh, parts of Maharashtra, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. Gonds speak the local language of the state in which they live.



Kolam - This tribal community are inhabitants of Adilabad district of Telangana. They speak Kolami language



Deva Chenchu - Chenchus are spread across the districts of Mahboobnagar (Telangana), Kurnool district (Andhra Pradesh), Prakasam (Andhra Pradesh) and Guntur (Andhra Pradesh). They speak chenchu language. The tribes of this community strongly believe that they are the descendants of Chenchu Lakshmi and Lord Mallikarjuna.



After getting around the small dome shaped tribal museum, you get to know much about the tribal life and their culture as you read the detailed information written about these tribal communities, on the walls.



The tribal museum in Srisailam is one of the best places for a family visit. From this place we continued our return journey and spent few enjoyable moments at Phaladhara Panchadhara.