Mathura has time & again been praised to the hilt in our Puranas. One of the most important descriptions of Mathura & its Teerthas comes from the Varaha Purana.
It comes from the mouth of Lord Varaha swamy himself, as he describes the greatness of Mathura to Goddess Bhudevi.
Varahaswamy accords Mathura the same auspicious status that of Prayaga, Kashi & Pushkara.
Varaha foresees his birth in Mathura as Krishna for reestablishing Dharma in the Dwapara yuga. Yamuna too is praised here.
Varahaswamy compares Mathura's beauty to that of Indra's capital of Amaravati. He describes the benefit of making a yatra to 12 of the most important Teerthas in Mathura. The first among them is called Madhuvana, a Vishnu Teertha.
Varaha describes the 2nd Teertha called Kundavana, one dedicated to Shiva.
Kamyakavana, Vimalavana & Bakulavana are the next 3 Teerthas described by Varaha.
Bhadravana is described as the 6th Teertha, that dear to the Naga devatas.
Khadiravana is the Teertha of Varaha himself, Mahavana that of Indra & the 9th one is called Lohajanghavana.
The 10 teertha called Bilvavana is dear to Brahma, the 11th one is called Bhandira dedicated to the 64 Yoginis.
The 12th & undoubtedly the most famous & most auspicious of all Teerthas of Mathura, the Brindavana(Vrindavan). Varaha says it is particularly dear to him & those who have a darshana there will never go to Naraka.
Despite the long, continuous & unrelenting invasions & subsequent plundering of Mathura by various barbarians throughout history, many of these Teerthas still stand, albeit not in their original form. Except the rebuilt Vrindavan, the rest are modest in appearance.
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History THREAD. When Tirupathi was invaded by the forces of turushka barbarian abdullah qutub shah around the year 1660, a brahmin poet documented the horrors committed by the invader in a series of 100 verses in Telugu. It was called "Sri Venkatachala Vihara Satakamu" (1)
Majority of the verses were a desperate plea to Venkateshwara
Verse 5:
When turks penetrated temples & broke idols into pieces & annoyed acharyas & licked the namams & pulled small tuft of hair of their heads,is it not possible for you to slay them? In my weakness I implore you.
The Kamkhana-ganamu (the men under the commanders) and the superior force under the Vajirs of Golkonda dash the shaven heads of sanyasis against each other like the dashing of rams in a fight; split the Brahma-sutramulu (sacred threads) of Somayajis (3)
THREAD on the history, architecture & sculpture at the Vira Narasimhaswamy temple at Ahobilam, Andhra Pradesh (also known as lower Ahobilam) .Known for its inscriptions, sculptures and a very unique layout, it offers a deep insight into Vijayanagara style temple architecture (1)
The earliest inscription naming the place as Ahobala is from 1124 CE. According to the Sthalapurana, "Ahobilam" comes from 'Ahobala' exclaimed by the devatas upon seeing Narasimha's fierce avatar as he emerged from this Ugra sthamba to slay Hiranyakashipu (2)
The sthalapurana mentions Garuda's penance at Nallamala forest hills, where after years of devotion, Narasimha appeared in a cave, which led to the name Ahobilam signifying strength. Vobula,was the earliest name, & appears in an 8th century Chalukyan inscription (3)
Namaste friends🙏 Had the good fortune of having a darshana at one of the most iconic temples of Bharat last week, the ancient Pallava era Kailasanatha Temple at Kanchi.
This is a thread on the temple's history, architecture & sculptures. There is so much to share. Do read. 🕉️
Firstly, brief history of the temple. It was built during the 8th century by Pallava emperor Rajasimha. The temple also goes by the name Rajasimheshwara. This temple served as the architectural blueprint for the Chalukyas & later Rashtrakutas for their temples at Vatapi & Ellora.
There is a Pallava-Granta inscription in the temple that praises Rajasimha as a great ruler. He is praised as having mastered the vedas and shaiva siddhantha. He is compared to Indra & Kubera
Some of the titles used by Rajasimha were Ishanacharana, Sivachudamani, Kalasamudra.
A detailed THREAD on the history, architecture & sculpture of the Hoysala built Chennakeshava Temple at Somanathapura, Karnataka.
This is going to be a long one & it took me a while to piece all the information together. Do continue reading till the end. Lets's start 🕉️ (1)
The Keshava temple was constructed by Somanatha Dandanayaka on receiving funds from reigning King Narasimha III. This temple was consecrated in 1238 CE & is considered the last major temple building activity undertaken by the Hoysalas. (2)
In front of the entrance of the temple is a 10mt high Dipasthambha. The Temple is enclosed in a prakara wall & is entered through a mantapa on the east. To the left of this mantapa is a 3mt high slab with inscription in both Kannada & Sanskrit dating to the reign of Narasimha (3)
A Thread on the history, architecture, paintings and sculpture at The Veerabhadra swamy temple in Lepakshi, Andhra. The temple represents the awe inspiring architectural brilliance of the Vijayanagara Empire. (1)
Hanumalinga shrine is located at the southwest corner of the pradaksina path that surrounds the garbhagrha & antarala (vestibule) of the Veerabhadra shrine. The entrance to this shrine is situated in the southwest corner of the pradaksina wall. (57)
Facing the east, the shrine consists solely of the garbhagriha, which houses a linga placed on a vedi (pedestal). Above the roof is a four faced Nagara Shikhara. (58)
Da Vinci was undoubtedly a great innovator. But 500 years before him was Paramara Bhoja. He authored the Samarangana Sutradhara, a multi disciplinary text, where he describes building advanced warfare machines including mechanized soliders! This is 500 years before Da Vinci! (1)
Bhoja's legendary work, the Samarangana Sutradhara has no parallel for its time. In this particular chapter called Yantra vidhanam, he describes the method of building advanced mechanical devices like Golakabhramana, Jalayantra & many others. (2)
Bhoja talks about a number of advanced mechanical devices which he calls as "Yantras"
He defines a Yantra as " The device by which the mahabhutas like earth, water, fire, air & ether are controlled. When the free & natural activities of these mahabhutas...cont...(3)