#orissa

Mary Binney Wheeler A Jagamahon inside the Raja-Rani Temple complex at Bhubaneswar 1978 Carousel 10, Orissa 1, 1978 South Asia Art Archive Mary Binney Wheeler Image Collection

Flowering field - Odisha, 2023

India, 1990 Puri, Odisha, India. インド オリッサ州 プリー Photography by Michitaka Kurata

Historical Context: The Konds are a tribal group living in the remote hills of Orissa and are primarily dependent upon agriculture for their economic survival. They traditionally practised 'Meriah' or human sacrifice, but during the late 18th century were persuaded by British colonists that their tribal deity the Earth Goddess would accept buffaloes as substitutes for human beings. Approximately a century later, Kond religious beliefs were going through a fundamental shift towards Christianity, and various tribal Kond bronzes including the bull and peacock were discovered to represent the Earth Goddess. The bronze images are made from the lost -wax metal casting process and once used for Kond ritual and ceremony, were classified into four categories: objects associated with human sacrifice, objects to represent Kond lineage groups, objects which formed part of brides' dowries and objects which represented everyday life. These ritual objects were kept on domestic shrines in the homes of the Kutiya Konds.

A Hindu temple was often envisioned as the world's central axis, in the form of a mountain inhabited by a god. The temple itself was therefore worshipped. This was done by circumambulation (walking around the exterior, in this case in a counterclockwise direction) and by viewing its small inner sanctum. The outside of the temple was usually covered with myriad reliefs: some portrayed aspects of the god within or related deities; others represented the mountain's mythological inhabitants. From early times, iconic representations of deities and holy figures were augmented by auspicious images, such as beautiful women, musicians, and loving couples (mithunas). Once part of the subsidiary decoration of a temple facade, the figures of this bejeweled couple embrace while peering rapturously into each other's eyes. Their full bodies and broad, detailed features are characteristic of architectural sculptures produced in thirteenth-century Orissa, a region in northeast India that was noted for its temples, particularly those built from the tenth through the thirteenth century, often distinguished by figures in astonishingly acrobatic and erotic poses. Couples such as this pair are understood to have multiple meanings, ranging from an obvious celebration of life's pleasures to the more metaphorical symbolism of a human soul's longing for union with the divine.

Jaya Jagannath!

OMG LMAO YES

Orissa, darling sweet girl and Falin's PC!