Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2011/01/22

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Subject: [Leica] Travels
From: ricc at embarqmail.com (Ric Carter)
Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2011 14:39:13 -0500
References: <AANLkTi=tOoLn-5DV_787PdmL-Hji-a-uj2Ok_CJ03Y6C@mail.gmail.com>

those temples are beautiful

ric


On Jan 22, 2011, at 8:59 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
> 
> C&C, as always, welcome
> 
> Cheers
> Jayanand
> 
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In reply to: Message from jayanand at gmail.com (Jayanand Govindaraj) ([Leica] Travels)