Essays, Commentaries, Jottings, Photography, Videos – In the Light of Sri Aurobindo
Photos and videos by Suhas Mehra, text by Beloo and Suhas Mehra After experiencing the splendour of the magnificent rock cut cave-temples at Badami, before heading back to Hampi, we stopped at Mahakuta group of temples. Chikka Mahakuteshwara Temple complex or Mahakuta temple as it is known in short, is a group of living temples,... Continue Reading →
Photos by Suhas Mehra, text by Beloo and Suhas Mehra Continued from Part 5 After visiting the Pāpanātha temple we headed back to the main temple complex. The sun was setting now, it was the golden hour, the banyan tree on the bank of river Malaprabha seemed to glow with a natural golden hue. A... Continue Reading →
Photos by Suhas Mehra, text by Beloo and Suhas Mehra Continued from Part 4 "Man's seeking after beauty reaches its most intense and satisfying expression in the great creative arts, poetry, painting, sculpture, architecture, but in its full extension there is no activity of his nature or his life from which it need or ought... Continue Reading →
Photos by Suhas Mehra, text by Beloo and Suhas Mehra Continued from Part 3 "To use the terms of Indian philosophy, most art expresses the play of Prakriti; Buddhistic art in its most characteristic creations expresses the absolute repose of the Purusha; Hindu art tends to combine the Purusha and Prakriti in one image." (Sri... Continue Reading →
Photos by Suhas Mehra, text by Beloo and Suhas Mehra Continued from Part 2 "The further you go back in time the greater the grandeur you meet in the conception. The nearer you come to our time the more the art becomes great in detail. Even up to the time of the Delvada Temples something... Continue Reading →
Photos by Suhas Mehra, text by Beloo and Suhas Mehra Continued from Part 1 “The temple means religious feeling, worship, adoration, consecration.”(Sri Aurobindo, CWSA 30:181) Virupaksha Temple - Meeting the Gods on the Outside Walls We are still outside the Virupaksha temple, also known as Lokeswara Mahasila Prasada named after Lokamahadevi, the queen who commissioned... Continue Reading →
Photos by Suhas Mehra, text by Beloo and Suhas Mehra “…everyone who has at all the Indian spirit and feeling, can at least give some account of the main, the central things which constitute for him the appeal of Indian painting, sculpture and architecture.” (Sri Aurobindo, CWSA, 20: 261) Pattadakal Temple Complex After Aihole and... Continue Reading →
Photos by Suhas Mehra, text by Beloo and Suhas Mehra Continued from Part 2 Having spent some time exploring the Badami rock-cut cave temples 1, 2 and 3 in our earlier posts we now move to the last and the smallest of the four caves. Cave 1 is dedicated to Lord Shiva, caves 2 and... Continue Reading →
Photos by Suhas Mehra, text by Beloo and Suhas Mehra Continued from Part 2 We continue our exploration of the famous Badami cave temples carved out of the soft red sandstone atop a hill. After exploring caves 1 and 2 we now climb up to cave 3, and the exterior view itself makes us stop... Continue Reading →
Photos by Suhas Mehra, text by Beloo and Suhas Mehra Continued from Part 1 As we start climbing up the steps to reach cave 2, we turn around and take one more look at the majestic cave temple 1 with Nataraja who has already stolen our hearts! Dedicated primarily to Lord Vishnu, cave 2... Continue Reading →
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