Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2011/01/22
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]On Jan 22, 2011, at 7:59 AM, Jayanand Govindaraj wrote: > 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 fine photographs and informative words to accompany them Regards, George Lottermoser george at imagist.com http://www.imagist.com http://www.imagist.com/blog http://www.linkedin.com/in/imagist