Essays, Commentaries, Jottings, Photography, Videos – In the Light of Sri Aurobindo
Author: Beloo Mehra (2020). Published under the title ‘When Young India Awakes’ in Sri Aurobindo’s Action, Vol. 51 (6), July 2020, pp. 8-10 CONTINUED FROM Part 16 When Young India Awakes CHAPTER XVI After a quick bath in his room at the guest house, Yuvaan went out to take in all the grandeur of the vast Somnāth... Continue Reading →
Photos and video by Suhas Mehra, text by Beloo Mehra Situated in the beautiful Nandi village at the foothills of the Nandi Hills, about 60 kms from Bengaluru, Bhoga Nandishwara temple presents a unique synthesis of architectural influences from several dynasties who ruled the area from 9th century onward. The temple's deeper significance exists in... Continue Reading →
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 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 →
Text by Beloo and Suhas Mehra; some photos by Suhas Mehra, some taken from the website of IIACD (International Institute for Art, Culture and Democracy). Continued from Part 2 In this final part of the series, we zoom in on the magnificent mural paintings of the Veerabhadra Swami Temple at Lepakshi. Many of the murals... Continue Reading →
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