Temple tour Karnataka : Bhoga Nandeeshwara

About a month back, I went on a study tour visiting temples of Karnataka with my class mates. I will be writing series of two articles about the temple tour.  

Part one: Bhog Nandeeshwara 

In Nandi village, at the foothills of Nandi hill of Karnataka, Indian sacred history and temple architecture encode coalition of various empires, histories and synthesis among different social groups and cultural systems. At Bhoga Nandeeshwara temple, one finds assimilation of different histories beautifully entwined, each bringing fragments of architectural style that proclaim their character yet resonate with the other styles in perfect harmony. 

According to the inscriptions, the temple was built in 9th century AD by the native Kannada Nolamba dynasty and many additions were made over centuries under respective ruling dynasties like Ganga, Chola, Rashtrakuta, Hoysala and Vijayanagara. Patrons from these dynasties contributed great deal adding value to the original architectural style without violating its aesthetics which was reflection of not only gesture of mutual respect but also social cultural milieu of the times.  Bhoga Nandeeshwara temple is believed to be first most ornate Dravidian temple in entire Karnataka, that played pivotal role in socio-cultural activities in the village and surrounding areas. 

The temple has a vast open area and as one enters the huge courtyard, one instantly gets engulfed in silence!  The chirping of birds, the giant rain trees that seem to have witnessed eternity, the robust summer blooms and their divine aroma calm all the neurosis and one gets the feel of ancient times dripping with soothing serenity. 

Architectural, archaeological and sculptural wonders are distinct characteristics of Bhoga Nandeeshwara temple. The intricacy of ornate carvings on countless statues depicting different deities, the geometrical patterns on the walls, the minute details on the carvings, design of the temple, inscriptions in ancient languages are sight to behold! 

The main enclosure of the temple has three shrines dedicated to Lord Shiva; each representing different stages: Arunachaleswara(childhood), Bhoga Nandeeshwara(youth) and Ardhanareewara; also known as Uma Maheshwara (after marriage), along with several other shrines on the rear side of the temple. The large mantapa in front of the main shrines have brilliant art work with each pillar showcasing beautifully carved images of gods, animals, puranic characters, sages and scenes depicted from Hindu mythology.

The Uma-Maheshwara temple, known for its intricate carvings made in soap stone (as opposed to the granite used in rest of the temple) was built by the Hoysalas between the 12th and the 13th century and has Uma and Maheshwaram in the sanctum.  This shrine is particularly sought after by the newlyweds to seek divine blessings.

The highlight of the temple is the Vasantha mantapa built in front of Ardhanareeswraa shrine. The temple has four intricately carved pillars, each depicting divine couple, richly ornate artistic roof and intricately designed and carved images of Shiva-Parvathi, Vishnu-Mahalakshmi, Brahma-Saraswathi, Surya and his consort on different corners of the mantapa. 

Shrines of Bhoga Nandeeswaraand and Arunachaleswara have large mahamantapas followed by the sanctum housing Shivalingas. The large Nandi situated opposite Bhoga Nandeeswara temple is beautifully carved with a small mantapa. 

The temple also has a big pond surrounded on all four sides by a walkway and a running mantapa. Legend has it that the pond was created by Nandi, plunging his horn into ground to draw out water from the divine Ganga. The Shringi Teertha is believed to be the source of the South Pinakini (South Pennar) river.

The Bhoga Nandeeshwara temple is believed to be a "rough draft", a drawing board for the chief architect of Hoyasala architecture style temples before building Belur and Halebidu and other structures.

"A concerted effort to preserve our heritage is a vital link to our cultural, educational, aesthetic, inspirational and economic legacies- all of the things that quite literally make us who we are. " - Steve Berry

My Kintsugi moment, mending the broken!

I pursue many passions and pottery is one of them. Albeit, as much as I would like to follow the art form, it seems to have been jinxed! Let me spare you the tedious details.  

There is something magically beautiful about pottery that has immense calming effect on me. Pinching pots, scoring, making slabs, wedging the clay, attaching coil and working at rambunctious wheel quietens my utterly chaotic mind sending an instant signal that I need to slow myself down, breathe and focus! 

There is deep sense of satisfaction derived from giving a form to amorphous lump of clay. One feels sense of integration with the earth, the very source of our material. There is some strange sense of belonging. 

I have a few ceramic pieces that were made when I had joined the studio some time back. Those pots hold very special place in my heart and home. I am bit possessive about those pieces as there were very few left after gifting my pots to friends and family. 

Last week, one of my ceramic tiles and two pots met calamitous end leaving me sulking; blaming the Universe, the retrograde Mercury in my zodiac, bad karma, black magic, influence of all possible planets and just about everything under the Sun. Well, honestly, I don't really believe in all that but loss of my pots made me emotionally wobbly. Our new domestic help; the culprit of the tragedy tried to console me in vain.

I was struggling to hold back my tears while picking up broken pieces of my beloved pots when I remembered words of the artist who taught me pottery, "Simi, NEVER get attached to any piece you make." She had said philosophically with sage like calm. "No matter how hard you have worked in the process of making any piece, eventually, many of the pieces WILL break, get deformed in the process, disintegrated in the kiln or even after having taken a perfect permanent form might be damaged due to careless handling or some freak accident". She had added, "Mend the cracks the moment you notice them emerge so that they don't weaken rest of your creation."

Those words kept echoing in my mind and I wondered how true they stand for relationships and life in general! We live in the world engulfed with perpetual sense of brokenness: broken homes, broken relationships, broken hearts, broken faiths, broken values, broken countries obsessed with wars, broken dreams, broken trust and no matter how much we try, we can never escape the pain of being broken in some way or other in life. Sometimes we tend to be consumed by the despair losing our grip assuming things are beyond repair instead of focusing on putting the pieces together and understand there is no perfect "whole" and life is about understanding our "brokenness", analyse the pain, embrace the scars through  journey of life, grant some time to heal and transform them into something meaningful and beautiful.  

If you have ever tried pottery, you would know clay imparts many important life lessons; especially patience and respect. Realizing that the material can have its own mind so when unexpected cracks and breakage occur, one experiences disappointment and sadness but also learns acceptance that one is not always in control. The only choice one is left with is, take a deep breath, pick up the shards and start over yet again! 

My ceramic tile has been fixed but pots are beyond repair. Perhaps, this accident was my Kintsugi* moment, a reminder for me to realize the meaninglessness of my attachments to the pots literally and metaphorically. I have started to focus on mending the cracks that are worth the efforts and decided to let go a few attachments, thank the Universe for the role they played in my life and move on without any bitterness or negativity and always remember, no matter what life holds in next moment I am never too broken for a beautiful transformation and claim myself  anew!    

  

“The world breaks everyone, then some become strong at the broken places.” ~Ernest Hemingway

*Kintsugi in Japanese means "to patch with gold or golden joining". Kintsugi is Japanese ancient art form used in repairing broken things with liquid gold, silver or lacquer dusted with gold to mend the pieces of fractured pottery and in the process enhancing its breaks and beauty. This method usually grants much more aesthetic value to the originally created piece. 

Woman's era, still a distant dream ?!

Rajubai Jadhav a handicraft artisan from Bijapur Karnataka at Saras exhibition;  one of  my favourite "Sheros"  

We celebrated yet another International Womens' Day a fortnight back and once again witnessed world waking up to the realization that women are indeed God's greatest gifts to humanity! As expected, there was frenzy on social media with posts on women, many of them paying unrealistic homage that perpetuate stereotypes. The advertising world went gung ho trying to have a piece in the pie by positioning the products as "sensitive to women",  playing marketing gimmicks for eye balls. My phone kept buzzing with endless invitations for talks, rallies, networking events, conferences and marches to celebrate "International Womens' Day". Some of the events/talks I attended organized by corporate companies/cultural institutes were truly meaningful albeit most lacked representation from rural women and were reserved for the select few.

For majority of working women, the day was largely about flowers, balloons decoration, roses, chocolates and cards and "special celebration parties" with free stalls for mehendi, makeup, fashion shows and talks on "women oriented" topics, more or less remaining nothing more than fun/party time. Of course, there is absolutely no harm in dedicating an entire day for fun and frolic. But is that where the day should be confined to? 

Don't get me wrong. I am all for celebration, gender equality and women empowerment but am bit apprehensive about diluting purpose of the day to nothing more than sheer tokenism. It doesn't serve much purpose except granting 'feel good" factor for our collective conscience. A day that has garnered immense significance in the human history calls for critical planning, commitment and sharp focus on gender parity, addressing issues of gender politics, discrimination and danger faced by women world over. But changing reality needs changing mindsets, attitudes, behaviour and a paradigm shift in our narrative. 

The awareness about Womens' Day is limited to a very small percentage of women population. For many women from rural parts or lower social/financial strata of society the concepts of women empowerment, gender parity and equality don't exist. How can the celebration of women's day be complete without participation of women whose voices are never heard? How can we expect to change our social landscape if women who matter are not part of dialogue? How do we address the real issues of women with dichotomies existing almost in all spheres of life? 

  

There is dire need to integrate the voices that reflect our ground realities and raise the issues to local, national and global level to the extent that they become movements, helping harness influence over policy/decision makers and protect woman's rights. No doubt, celebrating International Womens' Day is a step in that direction but unless we make a conscious effort to work towards making each day count as womens' day, the dangerous disconnect will continue to erode our social fabric.

I remember having read an article recently about women from smaller towns driving change in India. Those women are participating in the work areas traditionally known as male bastion; food/parcel delivery, kirana network, mobile repairing, carpentry etc. Looking at the joyous, confident photos of those young women from lower income strata of society, I felt proud.  

At one of the hand loom exhibitions I attended recently, a weaver from Benaras divulged an interesting story about how the scene of sari weaving and traditional gulabi meenakari (pink enamelling, a quintessentially Benarasi weaving technique) considered to be exclusively male bastion is being transformed by women who have slowly but certainly learnt the art form, taking center stage.

The more we read about such random tales of women entering in organized and un-organized sectors, we get an impression that all is hunky dory and women are finally claiming their rightful place in work force. Sadly, the reality is far from truth. Recently at an event, I learned about World Economic Forum's estimation that revealed a shocking observation that it will take eighty years to achieve gender parity in the world! Yes, eight long decades, just imagine!

The Organization for Economic Co-operation Development(2014) observed that the G20 countries would experience economic growth and increased citizen welfare by increasing labour force of women. While the gender differences are slowly shrinking, barrier to womens' participation rates still remain very low. While increasing representation of women in the public spheres is important and can potentially be attained through some form of affirmative action, an attitudinal shift is essential for women to be considered as equal within their homes and in broader society. 

It is constant endeavour for any Indian woman to protect her freedom from being clipped by her personal or professional environment that sometimes demands blind subservience to conformity or slavish attitudes towards rigid traditions and mindsets, the real malaise where women are thought to be dispensable! Unfortunately, the reality around me sometimes shows even some privileged young urban women not having a clue, enough courage and drive to create their own destiny. And that makes me realize the change needs to be from within; from our own minds, homes, communities and society in general. And till that happens, I don't see women getting their long deserved and much awaited place.   

“And though she be but little,

She is fierce.”

-William Shakespeare, A MidsummerNight’s Dream

Rest in peace Pulwama martyrs, our battle continues!

Politics isn't my forte hence I avoid writing about it on this blog. But the recent fidayeen attack in Pulwama that butchered nearly 50 men, has left me numb with the sheer madness of this dastardly terrorist attack by Jaish E Mohammad, an Islamic terrorist group. 

The social media is flooded with chest thumping proclamations of patriotism, urging one and all to unite and create pressure on government to attack Pakistan and "take revenge". How can I forget the "intellectual elite" and their self-proclaimed "secular" breed with their opportunistic methods trying to gain fleeting moments of glory with endless debates? 

There is wave of overwhelming outrage created by utter helplessness and frustration in people who have raised questions after watching macabre scenes of this tragedy. The answers however uncomfortable need to be answered. We must also understand that national pride is remarkably beautiful sentiment albeit when used as a tool to malign other race/country/religion/culture it loses its very essence. Patriotism is not about getting a high from titillation of spewing venom. 


Dealing with terrorism is not easy and looking at pictures of grieving families of our martyrs, I fail to comprehend perverse mindset behind any religion demanding people from other faiths to be killed! What kind of religion endorses killing in name of its God and honours the culprits as martyrs/heroes?  It is difficult to fathom politics of hatred that encourages inhuman acts of violence not a regrettable obligation but the whole point and make people who subscribe to such ideology barbaric savages! Deeply ingrained hatred, mindless greed and filthy power games are exercised to settle personal, social or political scores. With insanely high stakes invested in terrorism it has become new industry to establish religious, political and economic power games for global domination. My real concern is deeply disturbing trend of cult of hatred becoming a global epidemic endorsed by religious extremists. 
   

We have witnessed a paradigm shift world over post 9/11. Entire political climate changed forever, establishing  terrorism as legitimate tool for politics and religious fundamentalists globally. Terrorism from Islamic fundamentalists has compelled us to live with the nightmare changing our psyche.

The Pulwama terrorist attack has united our nation in grief, pain, anger and helplessness but soon the high decibel angry, intellectual debates, candle light marches, protests, signature campaigns will start waning and the media coverage will become nothing more than just an archival data till such tragic events occur in our backyard again! And before we go back to our normal life and Pulwama terrorist attacks and its aftermath is pushed to history, let us not forget the supreme sacrifice of brave sons of India, our martyrs and their families. It is easy to demand revenge from comfort of our homes without realizing price our forces and their families pay in wars. 

For any healthy democracy it is crucial to have more voices in open to question with erudite judgement as to what is wrong with the system of country. But we have to be mindful about not letting our voices espouse animosity and discord that alienates people further.

Terrorism, the unfortunate reality of current times, needs to be handled in strategic manner and let us remember, there are no quick fix solutions to it. The first step would be to concede truth. Fortunately, we have strong forces in defence capable of taking any challenge and the government that is determined to fight terrorism and has will and courage to take necessary action. Going forward, the only way I find possible is through compassion and reconciliation. But before we take that path, we must quell the disruptive forces. I know it is not a simple task but the onus is all the more on enlightened minority, the educated class to ensure we walk towards path of constructive solutions instead of useless rage and damnation devoid of humanity. If we as nation can't achieve that we can't call ourselves a proud nation.

If we are truly angry about the loss of our brave hearts at Pulwama, let us at least assure we become a nation worthy of their sacrifices. 

Rest in peace Pulwama martyrs. Our battle with terrorism continues to ensure no other precious life is lost. 

Jai Hind! 

Snippets from "A Hundred Hands exhibition"

Bombay is known for its exuberant art scene and come winter, a passionate art and handicrafts lover like me is overwhelmed with the sheer number and range of exhibitions of art and craft the city hosts! One of the distinct exhibitions I never miss around this season is organized by an NGO, "A Hundred Hands, a Handmade Initiative". This year, the third edition of exhibition was showcased at Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum a fortnight back and as expected, it brought an interesting menagerie of artists and artisans from various parts of the country.

There was a time when art and crafts blossomed under royal patronage and were highly regarded and duly rewarded until the outbreak of 19th century industrialization. Unfortunately, with time stigma of inferiority and backwardness was attached to handicrafts, diluting its true value. The handicrafts industry still continues to be viewed as decorative, peripheral and sometimes even elitist despite being the second largest source of employment!

Millions of Indians still depend on indigenous modes of production, traditional skills and techniques to make a living based on handmade products. Most of the times, artists and artisans from smaller villages and towns suffer at hands of middlemen.  Typically, due to lack of exposure and proper education beyond their art form, they aren't equipped to handle urban markets and lack confidence to match up to the prerequisite skill sets and compete in larger markets. This trend leads to exodus of artisans to urban cities in search of livelihood. 

The founders of A Hundred Hands initiative, Mala Dhawan and her sister Dr. Sonia Dhawan discovered the lacunae in Indian handicrafts industry and decided to find a way to sustain revival of arts and handicrafts by providing a platform. Their NGO plays great role in reaching out hundreds of artists and artisans by creating a huge network, empowering and encouraging them with guidance on different concepts, design aesthetics, communication and presentation skills and enhancing their product/craft with providing knowledge on contemporary styles and thus equip them to compete with global products without losing ethos of their art form or craft. 

It is need of the hour as nation to have more initiatives like A Hundred Hands to sustain and carry forward legacy of our rich and diverse country and its culture, myths and religions in our art practices. Traditional arts and handicrafts are unique expression of a culture or community and define a civilization hence they must be protected and promoted to keep our identity alive and relevant. I must say, A Hundred Hands initiative is doing a fine job at doing their bit considering how crucial the concept of "handmade" is in today's times and how it helps bringing together such wonderful creativity from gifted artists and artisans! 

Here are some snippets from the exhibition that showcased amazing art with its complex, colourful and simple yet captivating raw charm and immensely gifted artists who were such delight to meet with! 

Artisan Abdul Kalam and his group of weavers from Mirzapur are reviving old tradition of fine craftsmanship and intricate designs of  Kilm and carpet weaving 

Ironsmith Hanuman Lohar and his community's ironware  making skills date back to Rajput era in Rajasthan from 

Bio degradable bags made from banana fiber by artisans at Gramya, a social enterprise 

Traditional Patwa thread work accessories made by artisan Vishnu Patwa 

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Chemical free earthern cookware by artisan Bhansing

Chanderi sarees from artisan Afzal Ansari

Art of Metal sculptures carried forward from the Gupta period,  artisan M.Raju 

Revival of natural, traditional remedies by Sonia Dhawan

Kawad artist Dwarika Prasad Jangid 

Shibori by Umoya designs 

Fascinating work from Siyahi studio 

Traditional work from Rajasthan with interesting social message

A traditional work from Rajasthan