Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2011/01/23
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Hi Jayanand, You really have great treasurys in India and very good pictures, the second one is very amazing. Thanks for showing and sharing! cheers Lluis El 22/01/2011, a las 14:59, Jayanand Govindaraj escribi?: > Three from the state of Gujarat in Western India. > > The first is photo of the great temple of Somnath, the moon god, > besides the > Arabian Sea in western India. The temple is historically and > religiously > very significant - it was sacked and destroyed six times between > 725AD and > 1701AD by Muslim invaders and rulers, and rebuilt six times. The > present > temple was built after independence in 1947 and is called the Seventh > Temple. The security is considerable - because of its history, it is > a prime > target for Islamic terrorists, who would love to blow it up again: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/India/_1060359-Edit.jpg.html > > To emphasise the mix that is India, 70 km away from Somnath is > Junagadh, > which was, prior to independence an Islamic state. It has a very > interesting but rather poorly maintained fort - here is a tourist > couple > relaxing there: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/India/_1060489-Edit.jpg.html > > The last photo is of a Sun Temple in Modhera, Gujarat built in 1026. > It was > sacked by Allaudin Khilji in 1296 - he was also responsible for the > third > destruction of Somnath. Luckily for us, he did not destroy the temple > completely. Since Hindus will not worship a defaced idol, he just > broke a > limb from every depiction of a God in the friezes and sculptures > adorning > the temple, thus making it unfit for worship. The temple has the most > beautiful sculptures possible, though like all Sun Temples, a few of > them > depict graphic sex which had a deep religious significance, lesbians > and > group sex included! It is not a large complex, but it is like a > small jewel. > It is built so that the first rays of sunlight on the May and > September > equinoxes illuminate the (missing) deity in the inner sanctum: > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/India/_1060726-Edit.jpg.html > > C&C, as always, welcome > > Cheers > Jayanand > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information