Walking Tour of Boise

These pics were taken during the final week of our stay in Boise in October'2012. The weather was splendid , the sky clear & blue and the sun shone brightly. I ventured out on a 2 hour afternoon walking tour through the now familiar streets & roads of Boise. I was armed with my Canon Powershot and kept  clicking quite a few delectable shots. I am presenting below some of the select pictures. Glorious fall colors were still visible. Some of the trees had started shedding leaves.The buildings are architecturally of simple design and painted in light and sober colors - whites, greys, browns. Americans generally dislike bright attractive colors. This is reflected even in the dresses they wear.

Badavalinga Temple - Hampi

This is located right next to the Lakshmi Narasimha monolith.( see previous post for pics & details). This is a large 3 meters high Siva Linga - also a monolith carved out in situ out of a single rock.The large circular pedestal or yone pitha remains in a bed of water. Legend has it that it was commissioned by a poor woman. The sanctum chamber is a rock, brick & mortar structure.The water source appears to be an underground stream flowing through the sanctum. Can you spot the three eye mark in the linga in the last picture ?

Hampi Tour - Lakshmi Narasimha Temple

 This is a continuation of the previous post - Day three of the Hampi Tour.After the Krishna Temple our place of visit was the Lakshmi Narasimha Temple.When we were in front of the huge monolith of Lakshmi Narasimha we were awestruck & spell bound. This magnificent monolithic statue is the fourth reincarnation of Lord Vishnu and stands at a height of 6.7 metres.This is one of the finest examples of Vijayanagara architecture.Narasimha is seated on the giant coils of the celestial snake God Adisesha - the sacred guardian snake of Vishnu, its seven hoods acting as a canopy arched by a Kirtimukha Torana in front.The roof of the chamber enshrining the statue is missing which has led to considerable weathering & damage to the monolith.The four arms of the statue with its various attributes have been broken and the seated figure of his consort Lakshmi on his left lap is missing. The presence of the right hand of his consort Lakshmi embracing the Lord at the back is proof of this being Lakshmi Narasimha. The statue was consecrated by royal priest Krishnabhatta at the behest of King Krishnadevaraya in 1528 AD as per lithic record nearby.

Hampi Tour - Krishna Temple

this was the third and final day of the Hampi Tour. After morning breakfast we set off to see the temples and ruins around Hampi. Our first stop was at the Krishna Temple.This temple was built by the king (Krishnadevaraya) in 1513 AD to celebrate the conquest of the eastern kingdom of Udayagiri or Utkala (in the present day Orissa state). The main idol installed in the temple was the figure of Balakrishna (Lord Krishna as infant). This idol is now displayed in the state museum at Chennai. A huge slab installed inside the courtyard of the temple states the story of this temple and the conquest of Ulkala.

Image on the gateway to the temple

This is one of the must see sites in Hampi.The carvings are especially spectacular with the Yalis (the mythical lion) on the pillars and the entrances to the temple hall flanged with impressive carvings of elephant balustrades. Many small shrines and pillared halls adorn the campus. The temple kitchen is located at the south east of the main shrine. The main tower at the east is an impressive sight with numerous carvings on it (now the tower is under restoration work). You can see the carvings of the 10 incarnations of Lord Vishnu in this temple.

Krishna Bazaar & Pushkarani ( Lake).

Entrance Tower to Temple

Sculpture of Lady in rapturous pose

Maha Mandapam ( Pillared Hall) - See the Yaalis on the pillars & elephants at the entrance steps

Frontal view of the Maha Mantapam

Pillared corridor around the temple

More sculptures

Sculptures on Vimanam of temple tower

Stone Inscriptions

Badami Cave Temples

We visited Badami cave temples during the month of September 2012. We were part of a large group of tourists who were on a 3 day trip to Hospet & surrounding areas to see the ruins of the Vijayanagara Empire  as well to visit the magnificent temples at Hampi, Pattadakkal & Badami. We visited Badami on the 2nd day. It was late evening when we reached Badami & the sky was over cast & there was light rain when we reached. Soon the light rain turned into a down pour and we had to take refuge in one of the cave temples. Finally the rain subsided and we took a quick tour of the temples in fading light. The pictures are therefore not as good as I would have liked them to be:
The Badami cave temples are composed of four caves, all carved out of the soft Badami sandstone on a hill cliff in the late 6th to 7th centuries. The planning of four caves is simple. The entrance is a verandah (mukha mandapa) with stone columns and brackets, a distinctive feature of these caves, leading to a columned  main hall (also maha mandapa) and then to the small square shrine or garbha graha cut deep into the cave. The temple caves represent different religious sects. Among them, two (cave 2 and 3) are dedicated to god ^{Vishnu , one ( cave 1) to God Shiva & one (cave 4) to Mahavira}

Steps Leading upto the Badami Cave Temples - And the massive Temple Tank below

Waterfalls from the nearby hills

The rock cut caves

Statue of Shiva carved on the rock - Below another Shiva statue in cosmic pose with 16 hands