The sweetness of Southern India circuit (Day 9 morning cont.) - Ekambareswarar Temple (cont.), Kanchipuram - The 19th of February 2015

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We continued our visit by briefly looking at the Temple priests washing their garments and having them dry out in the sun on the steps around the Temple tank believed to have an underground holy river.


We then walked along the rather impressive corridors lined with frightening colourful life size sculptures (I believe used in festival ceremonies), as well as a series of "worshiping" Shiva Lingams (said to be 1,008 in total) not to mention the multiple creative rice flour powder and chalk kolams.


Having read about some  Hindu rites and rituals did help me in the interpretation of some gestures on the part of worshippers but the truth of the fact is that I still found it hard to thoroughly understand certain  Hinduism related issues though I kept on trying.

 

Something important by Nai-Wei Liu as part of the annual Monstra venue of short animated films, Lisboa

Having taken the time to watch a few of the student competing short animated films as part of the Monstra venue being held in Lisbon I was far from imagining the 7'35''  long  short animated film "Something important" by  the young Taiwanese NaiWei Liu would have such an impact on me. 

Short as it was its underlying message will linger on for much longer. The rather simple and naive drawn elements combined with realistic photo scenes (particularly at the end) together with the beautifully short, yet meaningful text took me as a viewer along its author and film-producer's journey of self discovery ... one that is inevitably connected to memories ... important memories ...  and what those memories entail ...

Undeniably one of the best short animated films I have seen in the last years ...

 

The sweetness of Southern India circuit (Day 9 morning) - Ekambareswarar Temple, Kanchipuram - The 19th of February 2015

We drove to Kanchipuram to visit the Ekambareswarar Temple dedicated to Shiva and considered one of the five major Shiva Pancha Bootha Stalams ( representing a natural element) temples - in this particular case  the element earth.

 

 

As we stood outside the Temple and soon after inside its courtyard I tried to remember the legends  related to it in an attempt to (maybe) get a better  "grasp" the moment we started the visit.  According to one legend, Parvati, Shiva's consort was doing penance under  the Temple's old mango tree when Shiva sent fire onto her in order to test the degree of her devotion. Shiva is then said to have called for her brother Vishnu's help. Vishnu is  then said to have taken the Moon  from her head and showing its rays cooled the tree and Parvati down. In order to disrupt Parvati's penance once more Shiva sent the river Ganga, whom parvati convinced not to harm her allegedly saying they were sisters. Subsequently Ganga made a Shiva Linga out of sand so that it got united with Shiva, thus the name for which Shiva has come to be known around the area - Ekambareswarar or "Lord of the mango tree".

 

 

Another legend has it that Parvati worshipped Shiva in the form of a lingam improvised out of sand under a mango tree. When neighbouring Vegavati river overflew and threatened to engulf the Shiva Lingam, Parvati is said to have embraced it. Having been touched by the gesture Shiva materialised in person and married her.

 

 

The vast Temple, with one of the tallest gopurams in India (59 metres tall) is also said to exist since 600A.D. though remodelled throughout the centuries.

 

 

 

We walked into a hallway with highly decorated pillars, which I couldn't help photographing as in any other Hindu Temple I had visited before. I tried to capture the atmosphere by silently watching the worshippers and the bustling around one of the shrines.

(To be continued)