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> Temples of Orissa |
| Temples
of Orissa |
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some important aspects, all Hindu temples are same.
Symbolic recreations of the Divine Cosmos, Hindu temples
are structures whose very form reverberate with symbolism
and with meaning. Temples have also served as a meeting
place for all those living in the vicinity.
Even
today, in the villages of Orissa, one can see that the
village temple still carries out most of these functions.
Many of the sculptural scenes are taken from religious
mythology and legends; many represent military and courtly
life and the activities which would have been associated
with the temple (such as pilgrimage, teaching, or performance).
The jewel-like quality of Orissan stone sculpture has
often been remarked, and the temples, from a distance,
do indeed convey an impression of resplendent beadwork.
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Orissan temples, and especially the Sun
Temple at Konark, are famous for their beautiful and
often quite explicit erotic imagery. In Orissa, it has
frequently been suggested that the imagery has specific
reference to Tantric cults.Tantrism, which concentrates
on worship of the shakti (female life force), combined
elements of both Buddhism and Hinduism with a belief
in the efficacy of magic ritual. Sublimated sexual power
was seen as especially potent in many Tantric rituals.
The senses and feelings which are common to human experience
are used in Indian
art to communicate some sense of the divine experience,
and it is the genius of the Orissan artist in doing
this that infuses all Orissan sculpture with an ineffable
delicacy and spirituality that transcends the subject
matter.
Though
the whole of Orissa is famous for its temples, a few
of the important temples are :
-
Temple of Lord Jagannath in Puri
- Sun
Temple, Konark
- Lingaraj
Temple, Bhubaneswar
-
Rajarani Temple, Bhubaneswar
-
Mukteswar Temple, Bhubaneswar
-
Baladevajew, Kendrapara
-
Khiching Temple
-
Nrusinghanath
Most
of the temples in Orissa are in one way or the other
connected to Lord Jagannath.
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