Laxmi Narayan Temple, Bhopal

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Laxmi Narayan Temple built on top of the Arera Hills in Bhopal, gives an awe-inspiring spectacle of the historical city of Bhopal. Also known as the Birla Mandir is devoted to the Goddess of prosperity, Laxmi. The temple is build and maintained by famous Birla family. Positioned on a hilly terrain, this place of worship gives panoramic view of the capital city of Bhopal . Birla family constructed a lot of Laxmi Narayan temples in diverse cities; shrine of Bhopal is one of them. The whole shrine is put together by beautiful and magnificient white marble stone giving a rich ambiance to the temple.

About Laxmi Narayan Temple

The Laxmi Narayan Temple is built in honour of the Hindu divinity of Wealth, Godess Lakshmi, and her heavenly consort, Vishnu, the Preserver of the Universe, who is also acknowledged as Narayana.Other deity in the temple includes Lord Shiva and his wife Parvathi. Bordered by foliage and noticeable with an antique appeal, this temple remains a favorite place to visit in Bhopal.The structure of the temple is sandy-yellowish in colour and has an antique-worldly charisma of itself. Tne face of the structure is a vast turret, while extensive lawns encircle the compound from other sides. Entry of this shrine is through a glorious archway. Besides spiritual travelers, this temple is frequently visited by citizens of Bhopal. The complex also houses a museum.

The holy place, with its antique appeal and the contiguous greenery of the long-winded lawns adds to the beauty of the place. Devotees come to the temple to obtain the blessings of Godess Lakshmi. The opening of the temple has a fabulous cloisters adding up to its architectural grandeur. On one face of the temple has a vast steeple. The entry way to the Laxmi Narayan Temple or the Birla Temple is through a gorgeous arch which is bounded by lush green lawns. Besides, this holy place as well has a splendid deity of a reclining Shiva with his wife, Parvati. The Vaishnavite temple provides beautiful sight of the city. The tranquil ambiance of this glorious place of worship gives devout comfort to the devotees.

Sant Kamali Hanuman Mandir, Bhopal

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Sant Kamali Hanuman mandir is an ancient Hanuman Temple at Hanuman Ganj area in Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh. The temple was built by Sant Kamali, who was an ardent devotee of Hanuman. Sant Kamali is said to have performed numerous miracles during his lifetime. The temple was built during the 19th century.

Legend has it that Sant Kamali used to blow conch during the early morning hours as part of his prayers to Lord Hanuman below a peepal tree in the present location of the shrine. Begum Khurishia, the then ruler of Bhopal, took offence to this. She ordered the Sant to stop blowing the conch during early morning hours. But Sant did not stop blowing the conch.

Begum Khurishia ordered the Sant to be executed. But when soldiers reached the peepal tree they found the Sant dead.

Next day morning the conch sound was heard again. This time Begum Khurishia asked his soldiers to behead the Sant and cut his hands and legs. When the soldiers reached the peepal tree, they found Sant to be beheaded with legs and hands cut off.

Next day morning the conch sound was heard again. Begum Khurishia personally went to investigate the mystery. There she heard the conch sound but Sant Kamali was not seen.

She realized the greatness of the Sant. Soon the Sant appeared and told her that he will keep performing his pujas and rituals. Impressed by his piety, the queen gave him the land to build a Hanuman mandir.

During the reign of Begum Khurishia ,Sant Kamali was donated eight acres of land for construction of the temple. It all begun when the Begum lost her loved necklace, even after long search in the Mahal there was no trace of it anywhere. On a quick thought she approached Sant Kamali Maharaj to help her trace her necklace. When she went to him for the same, even without uttering of a word by her Sant told her as to why she had taken the pain of coming upto this place when she should have recovered the necklace wrapped in a red cloth in her under bed. Begum was thrown aback as to how the Sant could know as to what for she had approached him. She ordered her trusted commandant to recheck and verify the bedroom. The commandant came back with the necklace wrapped in the red cloth and told Begum the he found it under the bed tucked between layers.

Impressed, Begum Khurishia donated eight acres of land and asked her force to help construction of the temple as desired by the Sant Kamali Maharaj. Because of the Sant Kamali and the temple built by him for Lord Hanuman this entire area had come known as Hanumanganj. This kshethra is so sacred one fells blessed to have visited the site where Sant had performed pooja and nama sankeerthan to the Lord Hanuman.

The temple had been built where Sant Kamali Maharaj had worshiped Lord Hanuman. The temple is south facing and now there are three- ardh shila adoring the temple and all these murthis are facing south. The temple is a scenic beauty, housing three ardh shila and one is around nine feet height, the other is around three feet height, and third is around two feet height.

There is a statue of Sant Kamali in the temple complex. The conch blown by him can be seen in the shrine.

The Devi Jagadambi Temple in Khajuraho

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The Devi Jagadambi Temple is located in Khajuraho and is dedicated to Devi Jagadambi. The third temple on the common platform is slightly older than the Kandariya Mahadev and of a simpler, three-part design. It was probably originally dedicated to Vishnu, but later dedicated to Parvati and then Kali. Some disciples believe it may still be a Parvati temple and that Kali image (or Jagadamba) is actually an image of Parvati, painted black.

About the temple

The sculptures around the temple are again in three bands. Many of the two lower band images are of Vishnu with sardulas in the inner recesses. But on the third and the uppermost band the mithuna again come out to play.

This temple essentially resembles the Chitragupta Temple in respect of design, dimensions and decorative scheme and the two temples, therefore, are quite close to each other in time as they are in space. It consists of a sanctum without ambulatory, a vestibule, a 'maha-mandapa' with lateral transepts and an entrance porch.

The garbha griha now houses a huge image of the Goddess (Devi) of the Universe (Jagdambi), though it most probably started out as a Vishnu temple. It has the usual three bands of sculptures around it, but the third and most uppermost of these showcase some of the most erotic sculptures in Khajuraho. This is much smaller than the magnificent Kandariya Mahadev Temple. lt has a cross plan with only on set of balconies, only one mandap and no inner pradakshina patha. However, the Devi Jagdambi Temple has some of the loveliest sculptures ill Khajuraho, and because of its medium height most of them are easily visible. There are wonderful representation of the dlihpolas in tlheir rightful places, the awesome Yama and Nirriti on the south and southwest sides are especially noteworthy. The little niches on the south, west and north sides have endearing images of Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma embracing their consorts. The south side lower niche has an image of Varaha, depicted with a human body and a boar head, emerging from the primeval waters carrying the earth goddess Bhudevi on his arm. She has placed her hand affectionately on his snout as if to pat the boar and thank him for rescuing her. Apart from the normal repertoire of female figures applying make-up and preening themselves, there are a number of depictions of lovers embracing and these are tucked away in the recesses and shadows of the temple. lt is as if the Devi Jagadambi and the Chitragupta Temples were especially assigned to honor love and conjugal harmony, with figures of the divine couples and others depicting every mood of love. A recess on the south side depicts a woman who , limned upon her standing over, as a creeper climbs a tree , to kiss him fervently. On the Pest sidle top row, is a mischievous woman tugging at the lover's beard. There are several such depictions and each visitor soon identifies his or her favorite masterpiece. On the west side are most facinating sculptures, one depictling a woman with her beautiful back turned to the onlooker. She is preoccupied in gazing at her beauty in the mirror, her scarf falling over her shoulder most provocatively. Near her is another seductive woman with a beautiful figure is depicted.

Jatashankar Caves Pachmarhi, Madhya Pradesh

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Jatashankar is a natural cave, a Hindu shrine located north of Pachmarhi, in Hoshangabad district, Madhya Pradesh, India. Cave is located in deep ravine, with enormous boulders perched above. Cave contains stalagmites revered as naturally formed lingams. Cave serves as a shrine to the God Shiva and is popular destination for pilgrims. Jata means hair and Shankar is another name of Lord Shiva. There are two different types of ponds, fed by springs, found in the locality, one of cold water and the other one of hot water. Inside the cave there are naturally formed 108 Shiva lingam. Water in the cave flows from an unknown point as no one has ever seen or reached that starting point. This stream of water is popularly known as ‘Gupt Ganga’. It is believed that the Jambu Dwip stream originates from cave. Idols of Lord Shankar, Goddess Parvati and Shiva lingam are enshrined at a platform on the upper part of the cave.

The legend goes that the Bhasmasur was a devotee of Shiva and wanted to get a special ability – to turn anyone in ashes by touching the head of the victim by hand. After long entreating Shiva agreed. But now the former devotee turned into the enemy – Bhasmasur wanted to test this ability on Shiva first. Shiva escaped through a tunnel from Tilak Sindur and finally reached remote cave – Jata Shankar. While running through the cave, he lost his hair.

Lord Ganesh Idols from Jaipur Crafts

Ram Raja temple at Orchha,Madhya Pradesh

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Today's temple is Ram Raja temple at Orchha,Madhya Pradesh.

History of this temple is quite long but suggest you to read fascinating story of this temple.

According to the legend, the King of Orchha Madhukar Shah Ju Dev (1554 to 1592) was a devotee of Banke Bhihari (Lord Krishna) of Brindavan while his wife Queen Ganesh Kunwari  also called Kamla Devi, was a devotee of Lord Ram. One day the King and the Queen went to Lord Krishna’s temple, but the temple had closed by that time. The queen urged the king to go back, but the king wanted to stay. So both the king and queen decided to stay back. They joined a group of devotees who were singing and dancing in praise of Lord Krishna outside the temple. The king and queen also joined in the prayers and started to sing and dance. It is believed that Lord Krishna and Radha personified and danced with them and golden flowers were showered from the heavens at that moment.

After that incident, the king asked the queen to accompany him to Braj-Mathura the land of Lord Krishna, but the queen wanted to go to Ayodhya. The king got annoyed and told the queen to stop praying child form of lord Ram and accompany him to Braj. But the queen was adamant, after which the king said that “You keep praying to Ram, but Ram never appears in front of us, unlike Lord Krishna who danced with us along with Radha the other day. If you are so adamant to go to Ayodhya then go, but return only when you have the child form of Ram with you. Only then will I accept your true devotion.” The queen took a vow that she would go to Ayodhya and return with the child form of Ram or else she would drown herself in Ayodhya’s Sarayu river. The queen left the palace and started the long journey to Ayodhya on foot to bring Lord Ram with her to Orchha. She didn’t tell the King before leaving that she had ordered her servants to start building a temple (Chaturbhuj Temple) when she brings Lord Ram with her.

On reaching Ayodhya, the Queen started praying to Lord Ram close to Laxman Fort near Sarayu river. She ate only fruits, then she gave up fruits and ate only leaves, and eventually she gave up all food. The Queen fasted and prayed for about a month, but Lord Ram did not appear, so eventually in despair, she jumped into the river at midnight. Just then something magical happened and Lord Ram appeared in child form in the Queen’s lap.

Lord Ram told the queen that he was happy with her prayers and she could ask for a boon, at which the queen asked Ram to come with her in child form to Orchha. Ram agreed to go, but he put forth three conditions: “I will travel only in Pukh Nakshatra. When Pukh Nakshatra will end I will stop and resume only when Pukh Nakshatra sets in again. In this manner, I will travel from Ayodhya to Orchha on foot along with a group of sages. Secondly, once I reach Orchha, I will be the King of Orchha and not your husband. Thirdly, (since the child form of Ram would travel in the queen’s lap), the first place you seat me will be my final place of stay and will be famous by the name of Ramraj.” The Queen agreed and started her journey to Orchha with baby Ram in her lap. Since the queen travelled only in Pukh Nakshtra it took 8 months and 27 days for the queen to reach Orchha from Ayodhya on foot.

King Madhukar Shah meanwhile had a dream where Lord Banke Bihari scolded him on discriminating between Lord Ram and himself. Lord Banke Bihari reminded the King that Lord Ram and he are one and the same, there is no difference. King was very apologetic when he woke up and found out that the queen was returning from Ayodhya. The King went to receive the queen with horses, elephants, servants, food, etc. and apologized to the queen. The queen did not accept king’s apology and refused the comforts offered to her by the King. The Queen claimed that she now possessed everything one could ever ask for (Lord Ram in child form). On returning to Orchha, the queen went back to her palace with baby Ram and retired in her room for the night, only to take Lord Ram to the Chaturbhuj Temple the next day. But according to Lord Ram’s conditions he took the first place where he was seated, hence, Lord Ram transformed into an idol and got transfixed in the queen’s palace itself. To this day, the Ram Raja Temple is in the queen’s palace (Ranivaas or Rani Mahal) and not in the Chaturbhuj Temple (Orchha) which is right next to the palace. Originally, lord Ram was standing position and the queen was serving him 3–4 hours every day in standing position and used to get tired. Lord Rama requested to serve Him sitting only, but queen replied that Your Lordship is standing then how she can sit. The deity of Lord Rama sat down on hearing this from the queen. Additionally, as promised by the queen, Lord Ram is the King (Raja) of Orchha, hence the name Ram Raja Temple.