AFTER 21 YEARS

Sunrise at Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu

Today is Greeja's last day at work, She has put in a good 21 years of her life to this organization, first 10 years as an academic and the remaining 11 years as the head of the programme.

This was indeed a long overdue disengagement from the rat race, one that the entire human race has embarked upon  since the dawn of civilization. Perhaps the critters were different, and the circuits would have been different, but the state of mind of the bearer would have been the same. Today we call it "stress", but man has labelled it differently in different times, pressure, tension, worry, anxiety, troubled and so on, but it all means the same, that is biting off more than we can chew.  

Palanquins in Waiting,

Elephanta Caves, Mumbai. 

But hey, that is what has made man to progress thus far and will become the impetus to progress further as well. Curiosity is critical to human progression but then again curiosity also kills the cat. The bystanders are stressed for not taking the risk and the risk takers are stressed of failure, and the consumerist world are stressed owing to uncertainties. 

Cafe Leopold, Mumbai

(Estd 1871, was bombed during Mumbai Terrorist Attack) 

In the midst of the COVID19 pandemic, a retirement of sorts seem ironic, because, together with Greeja, millions of people are also taking a break, many were forced to and some may have actually hoped for. Realization that we are not living in an equal world dawned to me when I went to buy dog food for Aryan and Athena last Friday, two privileged dogs who are part of my family. When on the same day I read there are thousands of Malaysians who are going hungry because they can't afford to buy basic staples, because they have lost their jobs. These are daily wage earners who have been affected by the movement control order (MCO) instituted by the Malaysian government. But this scenario is not just peculiar to Malaysia but is a global phenomenon. According to the Human Rights Watch, 40.6 million Americans who live in poverty have absolutely no savings to tide them over the crisis nor have the ability to stock up food.

A homeless Musician with his faithful dog

Melbourne, Australia 

Greeja's disengagement with world of employment could not have taken place at a worse time than this. We had plans to spend sometime in Ladakh with a good friend of ours and then she was supposed to be off to New Zealand to chill out with our daughter for a bit before embarking on her actualizing pursuits. But alas that was not meant to be, at least for now. I suppose this what is meant by the proverb  "Man proposes, God disposes." 

Arunachaleshwar Temple Tower, with Arunachala Hill at the back

Thiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu.

The MCO has given many families the opportunity to bond, but looking at the comments and memes in the social media, it seems that many families are struggling to keep their sanity intact. The external social distancing seems to be creating new problems via internal social proximity within the household. On top of that we have ministers in Malaysia coming up with bizarre ideas for families to conduct themselves during the MCO. The Ministry of Women and Family Development suggested that wife's should behave like Doraemon in handling their husbands at home. Her exact words were, "If your spouse does something that you do not like, don't nag him. Use humour and tell him 'this is the way you hang the clothes, my darling' (using Doraemon's tone and giggling)." 

Juhu Beach, Mumbai.

Crisis as such brings out the best and the worst in people. In India policemen have been crooning away on the streets asking people to obey the lock down order and on the other hand cases were also reported where the police used rattan to spank deviants. Then today in Malaysia a bread van was hijacked and it was found about 300km away from its original destination. A woman in Australia who was suspected to be infected with Covid19 was found spitting on fruits that was displayed in the supermarket. 

Khaidi, a Prison themed Restaurant,

Chennai, Tamil Nadu

The rat race has made man to be so mechanistic and self consumed that many have failed to stop appreciating and enjoy the beauty of life. Greeja and I firmly believe that Life should be appreciated for itself and should not be taken for granted .  It should not be seen as a means to another materialistic end. 

Arthurs Seat, Victoria, Australia

The Gita says, "Whatever has happened has happened well, whatever is happening, is also happening well, and whatever is going to happen, will also happen well," so who are we but mere players in the passage of time.

Both Greeja and I have had our struggles, losses and triumphs but never at any moment gave in to fate, but persevered in utmost humility facing what life has to offer.

This photo was taken minutes after this cow gave birth to the calf

Nainativu, Jaffna, Sri Lanka

To Greeja, I say CHEERS for successfully reaching this point in your life, and GODSPEED for the journey ahead.    

Ravi Varmman

1235

Subang Jaya

01042020

   

ODISHA Travel 4

Right now everyone's mind is so preoccupied by the invasion of the Coronavirus, an alien specie  purported to be cultured in a clandestine lab somewhere in the Oriental East. Meanwhile in the eastern seaboard of Bharat, I mean present day India, an ancient civilization built a temple that was so advance that some western conspiracist, claim that it was built with the help of aliens.

That is none other that the Konark Sun Temple, which took 1200 artisan and twelve years to built and was completed in the year 1255 AD. This temple was build under the patronage of King Narashimhadeva I of the Ganga Dynasty. 

The Konark Sun Temple

The temple was our last stop and the focus of our visit to Odisha. Since we wanted a holistic understanding of this monument we took on a government guide who spoke excellent English. We sat under a banyan tree and our guide gave us the historical context of the entire era so as to better appreciate the details to come.

The Banyan Tree

The structure of temple is designed after 24 wheeled chariot pulled by 7 horses. The Diameter of each wheel is 10 feet. The entire structure is sculptured with a wide range of artistic work.

If you were to look closely, the wheels of the chariot has 12 spokes, hence one of the wonder of this ancient monument is that, the wheels act as sundials and actually tells time based on the shadow casts on the spoke. Our guide demonstrated the process and it was really mind blowing to see the accuracy of time. 

As we moved into the complex after depositing a token into the slot that opens the barrier (similar contraption we find at metro stations), we were received by two majestic lions, pouncing on an elephant which is trampling a man, wow that looked painful.

The Inviting Lion 

The significance of this structure is that the lion represents pride and the elephant represents wealth, which together torments man. A philosophical reflection of the nature of man who is caught with inherent greed.

Conjectural Reconstruction of Konark Temple

 courtesy of Percy Brown, "Indian Architecture" 1942

The entire temple was built on a 26 acre spread, facing the sea shore. The above conjectural reconstruction gives good context to the amazing complex. The original temple constituted of a main sanctum which was estimated to be 228ft which was taller than the Tanjavur (Tanjore) Brihadheeswara temple which stood at 210ft. However that structure is in ruins now owing to various reasons.  The Sun Temple in Konark exhibits the traditional Odisha style of architecture, also known as Kalinga architecture. The temple is built with such a fine slant towards the east that the first rays of the rising sun illuminates the main entrance.  

            The Ruined Main Sanctum

The uniqueness of this temple is where the main sanctum is laid with magnetic field which allows the Sun God  idol to levitate in the centre. The construction of the main tower was done by placing iron plate between every two stone pieces. 

Iron pylons salvaged from the ruins of the main sanctum

The main lodestone at the top of the temple was said to be a massive 52 ton magnet. The Sun God idol was sculptured with iron based material which when placed at the main sanctum levitates without any physical support, due to the unique arrangements of the top magnet, the bottom magnet and the reinforced magnets around the temple walls. Unfortunately this was something that was recorded but we did not bear witness to it as this structure was destroyed by the Portuguese in the late 15th century. Reason, the magnetic field at the temple tower, messed up with their navigation and ships ran aground. 

The Jagamohana Hall (rear view)

The Jagamohana (gathering hall) stands on the same level as the main sanctum or the Deula Hall. Its roof is shaped in a three tiered pyramidal design where each tier is separated  a number of beautiful life-sized standing figures of women in various dancing poses as well as some of them posing as musicians playing different musical instruments like drums, flutes, vina and symbals, which depicts the practices of Devadashis (women who devote their entire life to temple worship).

The Jaganmohana Hall (frontal view)

Jaganmohana Hall 

(view from the Natya Hall)

The Jaganmohana hall is supposed to be a community or an audience hall for the people. However all the four entrance to the hall was sealed using stone and sand by the the order of the then Lieutenant Governor of Bengal in 1903, an exercise that took 3 years to complete. Reason, is to stop further destruction of the structure.

 Natya (Dance) Hall

The Natya Hall is the performing space for the Devadashis who carry out daily rituals of performing during aarti (main prayer). The roof of this structure has collapsed since but the base structure remain intact. Every inch of the hall is adorned  with beautiful sculptures of in variety of poses like dancing, singing, dressing, playing, cooking, romancing and fighting. Basically it tells the story of women of that time.                        

    

The view of Jaganmohana Hall from the Natya Hall

According to historical annals, the original structure ie. the main sanctum which housed the Sun God deity, had a headgear adorned with a large piece of diamond, which during sunrise, the rays passes through the Natya Hall and then trough the Community Hall at hits at the diamond, which apparently illuminates the entire inner sanctum with dazzling display of light reflection and refraction. That would have been a wonder to behold.

Intricate Carvings on the Wall

The sculpture above that adorns the wall of the Natya Hall depicts typical Devadashi's in their performance mode. 

Natya Hall 

The amazing feature of the sculpture that is found at the Konark temple is that it is divided into 3 levels. The bottom most level the sculptures depicts a person from birth to adolescent , second level depicts a family person and the third level depicts spiritual pursuits or engaging in sanyasin (ascetic).

Sculpture Depicting Life in the Palace

The Dawn of Sexuality

From The Kamasutra 

For most, if not all visitors, the depiction of sexuality in ancient monuments in India, be it Khajuraho in Madya Pradesh or Hassan in Karntaka, draws much curiosity, intrigue and even jaw dropping sight. The sexuality expressed here at Konark perhaps goes way beyond ones own imagination. The Indians seems to have thought about everything.

A maiden

The Nagas

The Nagas or serpent plays a very pivotal role in all Indian mythology, hence the sculpture of the same can be seen extensively carved in the Konark temple walls as well. The beauty of these carving are not merely on the intricacy of the work by various artisans but the fact that each of these work of art has a story behind it. 

A lotus design carved out of stone

(salvaged from the main sanctum)

This temple with all its grandeur never got consecrated because of an unfortunate event. According to popular legend 1200 sculptor headed by Bishu Maharana, were given the task to complete the construction within 12 years. However as the end of the 12th year neared the artisans faced difficulties in fitting the upper most piece of structure (known as Kalasha), much to the Kings wrath. He decreed if the artisans do not complete building the temple as intended, they will be beheaded. Fortunately for them, the 12 year old son of Bishu, Dharmapada managed to find a solution and completed the job. However despite this gesture the artisans knew that they will be still beheaded because it was they who should have finished the job and not anyone else. 

So to save themselves the the artisans asked Bishu to kill his son and hide the truth. Upon hearing this Dharmapada did not want his father to commit the sin, instead he committed suicide by jumping from the temple tower. Hence if a death occurs before a temple is consecrated, it is deemed to be a bad omen, and the temple would not proceed any further to function., an eventually the temple apparently was shut down on the orders of the King. Later the temple's Nandi (cow idol) and the flag pillar was removed from there and placed at the Puri Jeganath Temple.

Symbolic Water Vessel

The information plaque at Konark Sun Temple

Greeja and I felt deeply sad that such a gigantic and awesome temple built over a  period of 12 years just went wasted overnight. Was it human greed or ego or it could be both that brought to this state of despair. 

It was a good 3 hours of walk and talk, where guide Raju took us through a time of distant past, reliving that  moment. We were both tired but felt very elated for the sheer immersion of history that moved us in its entirety.

The Konark Temple excursion definitely aroused our gastric juices, and thence we hopped to The Sun Temple Hotel and Restaurant for a scrumptious lunch, menu recommended by Arun, our driver cum guide.

We asked for a typical Odiya menu and we definitely were not disappointed with the served cuisine. It was simply yummy and that more than whetted our hunger pangs.

The Thirsty Couple

Thus ended our tryst with Odisha. We are planning to visit Odisha in the near future, but this time it will be the south of Bhubaneshwar, to trek the hill country to meet the colourful culture of the tribals.

Last but not least I would like to thank Arun, who made our visit to Bhubaneswar even more memorable. He understood our interest and suggested places that most tourist would not know or even would have given it a miss. He shared vast information on Odiya culture, food and its people, well we even talked politics. He took us to meet his wonderful family and we enjoyed the short moment and were delighted with the hospitality rendered. 

Arun's Family

Good luck to Arun's daughters, one aspires to be a policewoman and the other wants to be a fashion designer, and to his son, still young, best wishes to him too.

Thus ended our short trip to the enchanting Odisha.

Ravi Varmman

0153

Subang Jaya

14032020