Skywatch Friday - Garuda and the sky!

This was quite interesting.

We went on a Hoysala Trails drive two weeks back. The idea was to see few unknown Hoysala temples. 

Our first stop was at Belvadi which has a beautiful temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu. We will cover it in a separate post. From here we went to Javagal - the home town of Indian Cricketer Javagal Srinath - which has a small but exquisite temple. 

The Temple is getting renovated. At the entrance facing the sanctum sanctorum is a tall "Garuda Gamba" or "Garuda Stambha" or "Flag Pole". 

This literally means "flagpole." This is placed between the Rajagopuram and the Sanctum sanctorum. It is generally made of wood, cladded with brass and with or without gold coating. It is called as Garuda Sthambam because a cloth flag with Garuda figure is hoisted during Brahmotsavam for a Vishnu temple. Nandi flag is hoisted during the temple festival Brahmotsavam for a Shiva temple. (thanks to answer in Yahoo answers Dwajasthambham )

But here was a stone pillar. This was really tall compared to the smallness of the temple. Interestingly, we saw a nice sculpture of Garuda - the divine vehicle of Lord Vishnu - at the base. 

It was afternoon and few clouds were hanging in the sky. We thought of doing some experimentation with the camera and click the Garuda Gamba from bottoms up.

What we got was a spectacular picture. Click on the pictures to see them in original size.

The pillar towering into the sky!

Notice the Garuda figure at the base of the pillar

The pole towering into the sky. Or was it Garuda, the divine bird trying to take off?

Please take a look at this pictorial on spectacular Hoysala Architecture in Halebid.

Halebid - Where stones speak to you!

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