Essays, Commentaries, Jottings, Photography, Videos – In the Light of Sri Aurobindo
(Recitation: Beloo Mehra, Video compilation: Suhas Mehra) As a result of his thorough European education, first in Darjeeling and then in England since the age of seven, Sri Aurobindo grew up fluent in English and unable to speak his mother tongue. During his last two years in England, while studying at Cambridge he began to... 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 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 →
Photos by Suhas Mehra, text by Beloo and Suhas Mehra After Aihole (see three parts - 1, 2, 3), we now travel to Badami for a completely different aesthetic experience. Badami was the capital of the early Chalukyas who ruled much of Karnataka during the 6th to 8th centuries. Situated on the banks of... Continue Reading →
Continued from Part 2 Photos by Suhas Mehra, text by Beloo and Suhas Mehra After Pulakeshin I established the Chalukya kingdom making Badami its capital in 543 CE, a great phase of experimentation and innovation in temple architecture began in the southern region of Karnataka. In parts 1 and 2 we explored various temples at... Continue Reading →
Continued from Part 1 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) Aihole, a... Continue Reading →
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