Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts with the label Masroor

Featured Post

Ladakh - Planning The Trip

Over 2000 Km by road, in around 10 days. Stunning landscapes, wonderful people. That sums up our Ladakh trip. But how did it actually work? How did we make it happen? Read on to find out!  Leh, the capital of Ladakh , is accessible by air and road. Flying into Leh is the easiest, and time-saving option, while the road is the time consuming one, but with the added advantage of driving past some of the most beautiful landscapes in our country. Each option has much to recommend it, and we chose the road for just one reason – altitude sickness. Altitude sickness was one of my biggest concerns, since I suffer from motion-sickness. Yes, I do travel a lot, but that is despite my condition, and, over the years, have learnt how to handle it. I struggled with it when we visited Nathu-La in Sikkim, and wondered if I would be able to manage a week at the even higher altitudes that we would encounter in Ladakh. This was the reason we stuck to a basic plan, of only 9 days in Ladakh, thoug...
18 comments
Read more

Navaratri 2015 - Matrikas of Masroor

This group of seven figures caught my eye as I wandered around the ruins of the rock cut temples at Masroor. “Sapta Matrika!” I exclaimed, surprised to see them here.
Post a Comment
Read more

Vaikuntha Vishnu at Masroor

I am back, after two whole weeks offline! It has been rather difficult to get back to writing, with so many thoughts churning inside my head, but, making a monumental effort, here I am, continuing with the last place I wrote about before I left – the Masroor Rock Cut Temples . We saw this image at Masroor , and neither the guide, nor friends I asked after I returned, had any clue as to who it was. The figure looks male, but what about the side faces? Those were definitely not human! I had seen something similar in a Vishwaroopa figure of Vishnu, but that one had many more faces. Besides, who were those two at the bottom he had his hands on?
6 comments
Read more

Wandering Thoughts - Wildlife in the midst of Heritage

At the Masroor rock cut temples , while I was trying to identify all the deities, Samhith was busy elsewhere. He had spotted a lizard on one of the rocks, and spent the rest of his time trying to follow it, and see just how many there were! 
4 comments
Read more

The Rock Cut Temples of Masroor

“Kehte hain, Pandavon ne yeh mandir banaya tha” (They say, that it was the Pandavas who built these temples), says the ASI guide, at the Rock Cut Cave Temples of Masroor. I look at him, askance, expecting a bit more information than that. “But some other king would have rebuilt the temples” I insist, trying not to override his mythological beliefs, hoping to get some historical information. He shrugs, clearly knowing nothing more, and turns instead to show us some of the depictions of deities he does know. My questions continue, and his confusion increases. “Are you studying these temples?” he asks, flicking looks between me and my son. “No, I just write about them” I reply, and he is satisfied. “Lots of people come here to study these temples and write about them. We are applying for UNESCO World Heritage Status” he adds proudly.
11 comments
Read more