Monday, April 30, 2012

Poetry in Stone - 10

This is tenth in the series on the rich cultural heritage of ancient temples in India. Today we will see sculptures on the external walls or pillars of the temple. In Gwalior at Gwalior Fort, the 9th century Teli Ka Mandir has some nice carvings at the entrance of the temple. They are distorted now, but they could have been wonderful when intact.


The 16th century Veerabadhra Temple of Lepakshi has excellent carvings. The pillars of the temple are beautifully carved. Some of the pillars have musicians playing musical instruments carved on them.


The Brihadeswara Temple of Gangaikondacholapuram built in 1020-1029 AD has magnificent carvings on their external walls. There are carvings of various forms of Lord on the external surface of the temple. We will see two of these sculptures here. First one is that of Lord Harihara.


The second one is that of Ardhanareeshwar, i.e., half form is of male and other half is female.


The left half is Lord Shiva and the right half is Goddess Parvati. This can be clearly seen from the face, body and dress.


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42 comments:

Carol said...

Fantastic sculptures!

Al said...

Incredible, such artistry.

RIZALENIO said...

Wow! The Gwallor Fort - fantastic craftsmanship once again. Very interesting to look at.

Kavita Saharia said...

Excellent carvings .Thanks for sharing the beautiful pictures.

A Homemaker's Utopia said...

Wonderful captures..:-)very nice post..One more place is added to our travel list...Thanks for sharing.:-)

R Niranjan Das said...

Beautiful architecture. Nicely captured.

www.rajniranjandas.blogspot.com

Cloudia said...

Warm Aloha from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral

> < } } (°>

Lowell said...

The ravages of time and the elements. I'm amazed at how good the beautiful carvings look after so many hundreds of years!

Sylvia K said...

Exquisite carvings and wonderful captures as always, Rajesh! And the last statue -- most definitely a woman! That one brought a smile!! Have a great week!

Sylvia

Unknown said...

Great carvings!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

Carver said...

The artwork on the temples is fascinating.

Karen said...

What amazing works of art!

Pietro Brosio said...

Great details, Rajesh, fabulous sculptures and decorations.

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

The temple sculptures and carvings are exceptional. Some look Egyptian, others look Aisan --they all look beautiful!

Anonymous said...

What fabulous stone carvings.

Leovi said...

A good piece of architecture with excellent sculptures, precious pictures. Saludos.

Fernando Santos (Chana) said...

Excelentes fotografias de valioso Património....
Cumprimentos

anthonynorth said...

Some beautiful carvings there.

Hazel said...

Poetry in stone, the words, are rather attractive to me. And they go with an illustration they become so beautiful.

Tina´s PicStory said...

perfect pics for P :)

George said...

'Poetry in Stone' is a perfect description for these beautiful carvings. They must have been truly magnificent when new.

Reader Wil said...

Amazing how religion can inspire artist to creating such beautiful statues.Thanks!
Wil, ABC Team.

genie said...

Rajesh...I am so glad you gave us macro shots of these carvings in stone. They are awesome. It is interesting that they will mix the 1/2 male and the 1/2 female. These are so beautiful. Thanks again for sharing such wonderful history from your beautiful country. genie

Roger Owen Green said...

PLENTY of beauty and history.
ROG, ABC Wednesday team

Kim, USA said...

Beautiful!!

Kim,USA

Anonymous said...

Beautiful temple carving

thanks

Ramakrishnan said...

Incredibly beautiful sculptures on stone !

Eden said...

Impressive carvings. Beautiful photos.

ashok said...

Truly a poetry in stone!

CameraCruise said...

Beautiful carvings.
Thanks for sharing.
Mette

Rajesh said...

Thank you all for appreciating wonderful craftsmanship.

Anonymous said...

Wow! very delicate rock carving here.

Jeevan said...

Incredible, even they are caused to damage! Beautiful capture on the carvings.

C Suresh said...

You have added the Gwalior fort to the must-do list for me

Easwar Arumugam said...

wonderful!

Arti said...

Beautifully presented, all of the carvings truly speak of the rich cultural heritage of our country.

The Mukhtiars said...

amazing

Padmapriya TS said...

Wow...loved the picture of the Gwalior fort! Awesome post!

Padmapriya T S
http://aalayamkanden.blogspot.in

Anonymous said...

eye catching sculptures and very nicely taken !!

Unknown said...

what a treat to eyes !

sushmitha said...

Wow.. Awesome pictures.. :)

http://sushlaventulip06.blogspot.in/

Rajnish said...

beautiful as they are. Nice shots...
www.duringmytimes.com