Monday, September 3, 2012

Poetry in Stone - 11

This is eleventh in the series on the rich cultural heritage of ancient temples in India. Today we move to South India for exploring the sculptural marvels at two ancient temples at Belur and Halebid. On the walls of the temple the stories from Hindu epics have been carved with great detail with attention to every minute aspect.


At Belur, there is a 12th century Chennakesava Temple beautifully carved out of soapstone as various sculptures on its walls. 

At Halebid there is a 12th century Hoysaleswara Temple beautifully carved out of soapstone. 


Once upon a time in the forests there lived a king of elephants named Gajendra. One day he went to the lake with his herd to cool off in its fresh waters. Suddenly a crocodile living in the lake attacked Gajendra and caught him by the leg. Gajendra tried in vain to escape from the crocodile's clutches. When there was no hope he prays Lord Vishnu to save him, holding a lotus up in the air as an offering. This act of rescue has been carved very intricately covering all details.



There are many more sculptures all around on the walls of the temple. Some of them are shown here above. In the rightmost image one can see a man in the Western getup - dress, hairstyle.


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49 comments:

rupam sarma said...

Nice to read your post and Thanks a lot for beautiful photographs.

Kim, USA said...

Beautiful!!


Kim,USA

A Homemaker's Utopia said...

I visited this place a couple of years back and loved it.Very nice pics..:-)

http://joshidaniel.com/ said...

really that is a poetry :)

Rakesh Vanamali said...

Indeed, poetry in stone.....and the verses are awesome....

Vineeta Yashsavi said...

Beautiful place to go...

R Niranjan Das said...

Belur and Halebid has some extraordinary architecture. Nice post.

http://rajniranjandas.blogspot.in

Fun60 said...

I don't know of anywhere else in the world that has the wealth of scultured temples that you find in India. Thank-you for sharing.

eileeninmd said...

Amazing carving, Rajesh! Your photos are beautiful!

Lowell said...

Thanks much for the story and interpretation. Reminds me of a video I saw a couple of days ago where an elephant drinking in a stream was attacked by a croc. The elephant shook the thing off and stomped on it and then sauntered up out of the river! Pretty cool!

joo said...

Impressive sculptures!

Sylvia K said...

Such intricate, amazing sculptures, Rajesh!! Superb captures and a wonderful look at your world!!

Al said...

That looks incredibly detailed, and so old. Nice photos!

Fernando Santos (Chana) said...

Excelentes fotografias de valioso património....
Cumprimentos

carol l mckenna said...

wow! absolutely breathtaking creative in stone ~ Excellent photos ~ (A Creative Harbor) USA

Anonymous said...

So lovely and intricate!

Indrani said...

Grand work in these.

Andrea said...

Those are really so very intricate, and i cant imagine the patience of those ancestor artists. I've seen similar sculptures with Hindu past at Angkor Wat, Cambodia and Prambanan, Indonesia

Leovi said...

Yes, wonderful poetry in stone, I love. Greetings.

Leora said...

Such intricate tales and sculptural details.

Unknown said...

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

Katrin Klink said...

As always, beautiful pictures!

Jeevan said...

Remarkable sculptures of wall! There’s a great piece of depict on the Gajendra... Quite poetic post :)

photowannabe said...

As I have repeatedly said, the carvings and architecture are truly amazing.

ashok said...

awesome poetry indeed!

Roger Owen Green said...

great HISTORY behind these!
ROG, ABC Wednesday team

Unknown said...

the details took my breath away!

H is for...

Carver said...

Wonderful shots of the beautiful art in stone. Carver, ABC Wed. Team

Reader Wil said...

Thanks for your magnificent series of photos of these beautiful sculptures. I wish I could see them with my own eyes.
Have a great day tomorrow.
Wil, ABC team.

Trotter said...

Hi ! It has been a long absence, but things have been a bit hard: father 95, mother almost 91 doing radiotherapy, wife broke right elbow and I’m consuming some much needed holidays to take care of all this...

Fabulous!!

As far as Blogtrotter Two is concerned, it seems nobody is interested in St. Kitts, so maybe I should try something else. Anyhow, enjoy and have a great week or better a vacation, if still available!!!

Anonymous said...

incredible.

DeniseinVA said...

Magnificent!

genie said...

Wouldn't you just love to be able to go back in time to that period in your history. These carvings/sculptures are stunning. I just cannot one country having so much historical and ancient beauty. genie

George said...

These carvings are definitely poetic in beauty. The detail is amazing.

RIZALENIO said...

What a very interesting story about Gajendra.

And the sculptures are always breathtaking.

Barb said...

It's hard to even imagine how people could carve so intricately on stone. Each panel tells a story.

Hazel said...

Soapstone - I learned something new today.

Gattina said...

The sculptures are just amazing !
Gattina
ABC TEAM

Unknown said...

Interesting & Nice Post

YOSEE said...

Poerty in stone is a very apt title. Can never tire of Belur & Halebidu

Eden said...

Impressive carvings. Beautiful photos.

EJ said...

Historical! Visiting from ABC Wednesday!

Chubskulit Rose said...

Such a grand pillars.

Rose, ABC Wednesday Team

Joy said...

Stunning. A wonderful way to tell the Hindu stories.

Rajesh said...

Thank you all for appreciating the beautiful craftsmanship.

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

do they still train these kinds of artisans?

Anonymous said...

Beautiful Narrations through Sculptures..

Arti said...

Marvelous indeed! The skill and the intricate carvings never fail to amaze.

C Suresh said...

Incomparable artistry