Morning Bath in front of the Chaturbhuj, a photo from Madhya Pradesh, Central

Photographer's Note

One of the greatest attractions of the village town of Orchha is the Chaturbhuj Temple. Dedicated to the four-armed deity, Chaturbhuj (chaturbhuj literally means four-armed), the temple has plenty of light and space inside, a feature unusual for a Hindu temple.

Constructed between the years 1558 and 1573 by Orchha’s king, Raja Madhukar Shah, the Chaturbhuj Temple is a bold concept and as enormous as any European cathedral. While earlier temples had fairly small enclosures, the Chaturbhuj Temple has a huge cross-shaped congregation hall. Conical shikharas (spires) crown the sanctuary of the spacious Chaturbhuj Temple.

The temple would remind a Western viewer of a basilica due to it's unusual layout in form of a cross. With its huge pointed shikharas soaring high above the village, Chaturbhuj Temple, with seven stories and spacious courtyards ringed by arched balconies, epitomizes the Bundelkhand style. The story about this temple is quite intriguing. It was built to house the idol of God Rama, that the queen was transporting herself, all the way from Ayodhya. It came to pass that the idol never reached the temple. The king immediately realised that his wife was honour-bound not to move the idol, and saved the day by installing the idol of Chaturbhuj (Lord Vishnu with four arms) in the temple instead. That is how the shrine became the Chaturbhuj Temple. Chaturbhuj is not a normal worshipping temple & does not have the throng of devotees one normally associates with Indian temples, which also makes it rather unique.

Raja Madhukar Shah provided a kalasha or horn-shaped crown, made of over 100 pounds of pure gold, on top of the temple. However, a few years, later robbers made off with the kalasha.

In the FG is the man taking his morning bath using water of the tube-well (borehole or water well). This activity of outdoor bathing is quite frequently seen across villages & small towns in India.

Hope you would like this.

devimeuxbe, robob, somak_g, asajernigan, Jonas_Schmitt, edytungkal, jusninasirun, emjleclercq, carper, papagolf21, feather, kiwi_explorer, ChrisJ, pierrefonds, pboehringer, noborders, josepmarin, ramesh_lalwani, Graal, Stepan, adores, plimrn heeft deze opmerking als nuttig gemarkeerd

Critiques | Translate

devimeuxbe (58557) 2008-04-10 4:48

Hi Angshuman
what a beautifull place. This wonderfull architecture is interesting and your picture is beautifull.
A strong composition.
Well done
Bertrand

robob (3648) 2008-04-10 6:57

Hello Angshu,
Ce temple très ancien semble être dans un très bon état de conservation,
Très belle architecture et note très intéressante,
Très bon point de vue également,
Amicalement et à bientôt,
Robert

jurek1951 (42198) 2008-04-10 7:27

Hi Angshuman,
You shew beautiful architecture in perfect warm colors. I like composition, and your POV. Amazing place, and excellent clarity picture.
Georg

Tobias__Ortmann (2638) 2008-04-10 9:16

Hi angshu nice nwe post
good colours nice pov and composition and also good sharpness
well done
Toba

somak_g (497) 2008-04-10 9:56

hi angshu,

good composition of great architecture - but the yellow signage is disturbing !! otherwise its a perfect setting. any other photographs of the beautiful temple?

regards
somak

asajernigan (21427) 2008-04-10 10:19

Angshuman,
Nice composition and POV here with the inclusion of the man in the foreground and the temple in the back. You did a nice job of placing the temple to one side and including the landscape on the other. The lighting and colors are fine with excellent sharpness and detail.
TFS,
Asa

Jonas_Schmitt (3074) 2008-04-10 10:28

Hi Angshu!
Again a very nice daily life scene put on a really nice composition!
Good colors, fine contrast and brillaint depth, I like the picture a lot. The frame you made, matches to it very well and the sharpness is very good!
Jonas

Gerrit (62042) 2008-04-10 11:32

Hi Angshu,
fantastic mix of a majestic temple and a great candid view of daily life. Excellent.
Regards, gerrit

edytungkal (4551) 2008-04-10 12:21

A perfect combination with beautiful historic architectures of Chaturbhuj and clear blue sky as bg. Its interesting when you captured this place and inclusion the man taking his morning bath. A well presented picture and very informative note as usually, thank you my friend.

daniel

gneufeld (15890) 2008-04-10 18:32

Hi angshuman,
This is very nice. Excellent details and the inclusion of the person in the right corner adds a very fine human touch. Great colors, great sharpness, great textures. Well done and TFS. Gerald

crckt (7222) 2008-04-10 18:50

Hi Angshumanda,
My favorite Orchha! Your recent posts all have great sharpness, may be even more than previous ones. Are you taking them in RAW? Lovely colors.
TFS,
shaeri

jusninasirun (17529) 2008-04-10 20:08

Hello Angshu. Beautiful angle to capture this rustic architecture. Stunning image against the blue sky. Regards. Jusni

siolaw (38294) 2008-04-10 22:58

Hi Angshu,
Nice view of the daily life around the temple and also on the temple it self. Colors and sharpness look great and the off centering works well.
Greetings
Laurent
Ps.Not camping!

emjleclercq (15778) 2008-04-10 23:11

The temple on the right is intersting (as your temple always are) although th poistionning of the house / shop just at the bottom is less so (I would have prefered it on the left or not at all). Th scene of the washing man however makes a lively detail.

All the best,

Emmanuel

papagolf21 (152607) 2008-04-11 0:43

Bonjour, mon ami Angshu,
Magnifique prise de vue, la magnificence de ce temple est étonnante.
J'aime beaucoup dont le cadrage a été choisi, l'ambiance environnante est parfaite.
Encore une très belle photographie qui apprend beaucoup.
Amitiés.
Philippe

feather (51130) 2008-04-11 1:54

It looks to be magnificent architecture with, to my inexperienced eyes, a mixture of styles. I read about the European influence in your notes but it also reminds me of some of the Angkor Temples. It is good to present the wider view, warts and all, so we have an idea of the setting. The shop and the batheing man are all part of that. Well done
Kath

kiwi_explorer (12209) 2008-04-11 2:34

Hi Angshuman,
I like the inclusion of the man taking a bath ... very good infusion of human element in his raw element. This ancient wonderful structure is just amazing ... to think it has withstood the ravages of time. Good historical documentation. Well captured and composed. Well done! tfs
Cheers,
Renier

carper (96) 2008-04-11 2:56

a very nice shot again Angshuman,
good atmosphere here, fine pov and a good balance in the sgot, good photojob, have a nice day.
gr. jaap

ChrisJ (172436) 2008-04-11 3:48

Namaste Angshuman

A marvellous warm vs cold colour contrast, between the red brick of the temple, & the blue sky, with excellent color & sharpness. Good pov, & an excellent daily life scene. Tfs!

pierrefonds (115596) 2008-04-11 4:26

Hi Angshuman,

The Chaturbhuj temple is impressive, the person taking is bath is giving a scale effect. The details and colors of the architecture of the temple are clear and precise. The subject is well framed. There is a good contrast between the colors. have a nice day.

Pierre

John_F_Kennedy (43797) 2008-04-11 6:26

Beautiful details of architecture from the great place. Good light and colours, beautiful place.
Best wishes,
Achim

pboehringer (770) 2008-04-11 7:28

LOL!
The little detail of the blue bucket and the man sitting in the right corner of your composition made this shot quite funny and interesting. I know, it isn't funny as a reality of someone having this as the only place to take a bath but I menat it as the built up of your composition and including that in your title. Any other approach to this temple would have been probably be boring.
Peter

batalay (41261) 2008-04-11 10:12

Hello Mr. B,

I never knew the name of the of the Goddess Chaturbhuj, but with your usual informative note we are all treated to a visual and educational splendor. Today, my student, Mandar Shirke, who hails from India, gave me a short lesson on a map of india. And I can picture so much better the areas that whose splendors we see on your pages.

Warm regards and have a good weekend,

Bulent

noborders (1010) 2008-04-11 10:35

Hi Angshuman,
Great to see views from Orchha - a place where I'd like to go again, but my memories are exactly like on that photo, plus I like your sense of observation of the little daily life scenes and IMHO it's great that you have left all the details like electric wires etc...
Compliments and greetings,
Cath.

josepmarin (59385) 2008-04-11 10:47

Hi Angshuman,
A very well organized and well seen composition. You have obtained a great contrast between the scene of daily life caught in FG, in a humble environment, and the magnificent temple in BG, symbol of the richness and of the power.
The luminosity is very good and the chromatic level is very high.
Good work.
Friendly regards,
Josep

Graal (103040) 2008-04-11 23:05

Hi Angshuman,
nice sight on the temple, an interesting place and excellent quality of photo. Fine composition with the man on FG. Good colours and informations. I like it.
Gr., Aleksander

PixelTerror (0) 2008-04-12 1:59

Hi Angshuman,
Nice heritage temple under a very pleasant light, I like the wide and off centered framing to get some environment as yell, India pictures often show an overcast sky so I appreciate this nice clear blue one !
Have a nice week end JY

sagar (2410) 2008-04-12 4:17

Hi Angshumanda,
Lovely composition!!! This definitely gives a great view of the temple. Aesthitically, it would be better without the wires and the yellow paint on the white wall, but I prefer this one for being closer to the original.
Great sharpness too!!
Regards,
Sagarneel.

Bluejeans (64251) 2008-04-13 15:07

Ola Angshuman,
Muito bonito este lugar , o templo tem uma arquitectura muito bonita cheia de detalhes , gostei do primeiro plano com o homem sentado , bom contraste de cores ,parabéns!!
Um abraço Gonçalo

everlasting (20002) 2008-04-14 22:26

I almost know where you are standing Angshu to carefully compose this image. I like the seperate layers here - the bather - the shop depicting daily life and finaly the magnificent temple.

Stepan (27210) 2008-04-18 0:31

This place is lovely and you know I do enjoy it. The architecture in Orchha is wonderful and really inspired. And that's what you remember me here.
And you composed it well, with the man in the foreground and the temple on the hill, getting even more impressive like that.
Stéphane

adores (46979) 2008-04-20 17:19

Hi Angshu!
Good capture! You show a daily scene and also a great temple in background. Composition is very good, the man seems so small comparing to the temple.Very good light and colours.

plimrn (21344) 2008-04-23 9:29

Hi Angshu,
You have become a real master at including people in your architectural shots. This addition of humanity provides your own special touch to these monuments, as many comment. Naturally you continue with excellent technicals and notes making a presentation in the truest spirit of TE.
I see I've been missing many great shots while I've been caring for my Mom. She is currently improved but at this age we just take each day as it comes.
HLj, Pat

Disabled_A (0) 2009-04-05 13:48

Hello Angshuman,
this is an interesting scene, and a very good composition which combines a few elements at the same time - human, architectural - and Nature. Beautiful temple! I have always been curious about the "ancient roots" of such an architecture style...
Have a nice week!
Best greetings from Moscow,
Elena