Bollywood is a Temple

Two friends and I halted at the Khirdeshwar temple enroute to Ambernath last Sunday. The photo on top is of a hall adjacent to the main temple. There were a couple of sadhus sitting on the floor, recouping from a sleepless night on the road or recovering from austerities.

Note the Bollywoodization of temple architecture here. The arches and the make-believe roof of thin logs could be part of a set for any Hindi movie, especially with the fresco of the dramatic image of Lord Shiva meditating on the inside wall. However, the difference is that this structure is made to last. The roof gives the hall a homely feel, while the arches add a touch of formality.

The design of the arches is heavy and stark. Don't you feel as if your arm would be cut off if it brushed past the sharp ridges of one of the arches? I'm thinking Mantis razor-hands. The abstract geometrical designs in the space between the arches remind me more of Mughal rather than Hindu architecture. The body of the (plaster of Paris?) pillars seem oddly Romanesque, with a number of design variations. The balustrade below, which is a part of anyone's apartment in Mumbai lucky to have a view, and the black and red (granite or marble ?) plates on the right, drag you back to reality - all this is just a show. We are still steeped in mediocrity, despite bold attempts to break out of it. Wait there is hope! The cornice is refreshingly designed with reliefs of a horizontal trishul, swastika, Om, and a shell - all symbols of the Great Yogi. This pastiche of styles, some intentionally mixed and others not, is at the heart of Bollywood.

The second photo is of the right side of the main temple. You can see at least 3 different phases of its construction. At the base are the carvings of the original structure. Later large rectangular stones were placed to rebuild the ruins. On top you see the ugly concrete additions of our age, just above the protruding water pipe.