Elusive godess

Photos: Godess and the calm

shreekinessoflife — Mon, 26 May 2014 22:08:00 GMT

Orissa and Bengal

Calm and peace in the wild heart of Orissa

shreekinessoflife — Mon, 26 May 2014 21:40:00 GMT

Finding the adobe of Sun:

As i imagined one of my travels would be it is. I am writing this in a train as it hoots and trumpets announcing its arrival to the next destination. How was the sun temple? It was utterly unexpected, beautiful and the artistry blew my mind. More than anything it made me blush and giggle and laugh out loud at the joke it played on people.

All around the protected monument, people posed and smiled to look at their best. The monument was on the other hand mocking them back. A chariot made of stone with twenty-four wheels.It is the chariot of the sun coming out of the sea in the morning. It used to be adjacent to a sea shore, but the shore has receded in years leaving the chariot of sun on the land. The chariot of the Sun is as regal, majestic and overpowering in stone as the very sun that shines on it.

On closer inspection each figurine carved in stone displayes a range of emotions, joyful, flirtatious, sensual to erotic. The poses of the figurines is nothing that one would ever expect in a strict society like the one where it is now set. It expression of love between two or more people in stone, in the golden era where the population of this place was under decline. Just not the worship that one would expect from a typical devotee I must say. So, I left with a smile on my face.

The Sun temple on a shore is what I wanted to see, but the sea has receded, so I decided to chase the sea. I found its shores some 1 km away from the temple, the Chandrabhaga beach. The shore was breathtakingly beautiful. The waves lazily kissed the shores. If you left a footprint it refused to mark the beach. What can not be captured though is the calm of the beach. Hardly a soul around, and even the waters slide silently in and out of the beach. Orissa is calm.

I went hunting for the largest brackish water lagoon in India - the Chilika lake. It is an uninterrupted expanse of water that hosts many birds. 1100 sq. kms of just water unbroken by any land. I have never seen anything like it. And I was curious to know the story of the lake. It is the story of the young bride who was a devotee of Godess Kali. While crossing the lake on a rainy night tragedy struck the young bride who was trying to reach home across the lake. She drowned in the storm calling out to Godess Kali in her last moments. The bride's mother cried to Godess Kali, about the injustice done to her daughter and questioned her about the protection she would provide. Godess Kali appeared in front of the mother and assured her that justice will be done and her daughter will always be taken care of by her. So, Godess Kali got the bride to also reside in her temple at lake Chilika. So, I set out in ahead of the oncoming storm in the lake to see the temple.

On the empty lake, only our boat was there. One could hear the rumble of the oncoming storm in the distance, but no sound apart from that was audible. Again the calm. The boat, the oar and my thoughts. I knew then that peace and calm are just what Orissa is all about. The real place, unperturbed by human menace. Pristine beauty protected by the Gods and Godesses all around.

In search of a goddess

shreekinessoflife — Sat, 3 May 2014 15:46:40 GMT

When we think of a hero, it is very uncommon to think of a woman in that role. We are made to think of her in a more classic mould of a home maker, a multi-tasker. In Calcutta, I am in search of the goddess who vanquished the demon king, whom none of the other gods could. The city is bustling with people, all dressed up in festive clothes preparing for the Durga pooja as they have done through many generations. The women in traditional white and red saris, and amongst them I might find a ferocious, yet beautiful face of the goddess. She has ten hands laden with different weapons. Her face is full of certainty and calm even as she pierces the heart of the demon king. As I stared at her idol, I found a face standing next to me, of a woman, with same features. Another woman, also with the same features stood ahead. Suddenly I found myself surrounded by the women with a portion of goddess in them all. All the women in Bengal had those eyes, wide, deep and beautiful. A round face with calm, adorned with dark tresses. The goddess was in the soil, air and water, seeping into each girl born on this land. She gives these women the confidence and strength to vanquish any demon that might threaten her family and loved ones. The men in their lives are indeed lucky to find women of such strength. A source of constant progress and energy from these women drove the city forward. While I looked around, my thoughts were interrupted the sound of the conch that said the holy moment that the goddess descends to the earth was here, but I knew I did not have to search far for her anymore.