CANDACE OWENS IS THE BEST!

Candace Owens is the most brilliant, intelligent, and – above all – conscientious – Conservative, that I have seen & heard in recent years.

When I first came across this young lady, I found her a little too abrasive & snappy: something I’d associate with her age – she was the quintessential “young angry woman”.

I also did not, and still do not, agree with her on each & every point.

Yet, I’ve seen her evolve majestically over the past one, one-and-a-half years – she has mellowed & matured, and become way more than what she was.

Candace Owens has a conscience – she seeks truth indefatigably – and she is fearless (Touchwood!)

A combination that always gets an individual into trouble!!

Of all public figures one can see on social media, I think she is the only one who really believes in doing the RIGHT thing, instead of just doing the SMART thing.

I find the others too limited, too partisan, too sectarian.

She speaks her mind freely & candidly, and lays out all facts for all to see & judge for themselves.

I was confident she would grow out of the (loosely) Pro-White, Pro-Christian stance she has always had, and evolve into a much more exalted, all-embracing, and universal point of view.

She has all the trappings of becoming a World Leader – thinking about everyone’s good, everyone’s happiness.

In today’s highly integrated world, that ability is an absolute necessity, in a socio-cultural-political figure.

She displays a remarkable sensitivity to see things from other peoples’ point of view – and analyze a situation objectively from multiple perspectives.

No wonder, then, that she has been targetted and abused and harassed.

By Conservatives – or rather, an important section of Conservatives!

What has happened with Candace just a couple of days ago, is PRECISELY the reason why I am NOT a “Conservative” or “Right-leaning” person.

Whatever the trajectory of her future journey, I feel that Candace Owens will sooner or later realize that there are lies, fabrications, prejudices, and hidden agendas, on BOTH sides.

Nobody is innocent, out here.

You fight for the side you think is right, for years, only to realize they’re a bunch of power-hungry, manipulative, deceptive, arrogant, narcissistic opportunists nauseatingly filled with egotism & greed – and you have to keep chiming in with their bullshit all the time, to get at least SOME points across, to attain at least SOME justice.

That realization is deeply painful, because you have to still take some side, if you want to accomplish something in the public arena.

After a point though, you may not want to compromise.

A person with a conscience CAN’T compromise beyond a certain point.

Well, I do wish her all the best, and hope that she continues to do the RIGHT thing, and NOT the “SMART” thing.

Candace is doing God’s work – whether the Hindu God or Christian God or Islamic God or whichever God – God is One! – and God be with Her!

God Bless Candace Owens!

A Few Latest Pics From Odishan Temples

After nearly 2 grueling months of house renovation (repair & repaint, mostly!), I took the opportunity to visit a few temples in the vicinity of Bhubaneshwar, before the Indian Summer strikes in all its ferocious glory.

I came across a very prettily decorated & freshly painted Goddess temple where, as usual, I found these beautiful lion figures.

These are lions, or siṃhas.

These are not vyālas or yālis (or yaazhis).

From what I’ve observed, the difference between the siṃha & the yāli is that the yāli has horns – evidently those of a ram or a goat.

The olden temples of Odisha are replete with yālis – and occasionally have depictions of siṃhas.

The yālis have been called “leogryphs” more or less appropriately, because they combine features of at least two animals.

So this, from the Paraśurāmeśvara Temple (photo taken by me in January 2020) is a siṃha – at least in my opinion.

And this, from the Rājā-Rānī Temple (photo taken by me in June 2014) is a vyāla or yāli.

They have been used for similar iconographic purposes, but they’re not the same, strictly speaking.

The leonine heads you may notice to the right of the picture, with garlands of pearls or chains (one chain terminating in a bell-like object) streaming out of the mouth/jaws, are all  yāli heads.

(26.3.2024: Please read note at the end of the post.)

Apart from the two usual horns, there is a third protuberance in the center of the head, and I shall come to that sometime later.

The Hindu Goddess Durgā is invariably depicted on/with a siṃha – not a yāli – but there may be some depictions with yālis/yaazhis.

Remember, the siṃha doesn’t have horns – the yāli does.

I also came across the 12^th century Buddhanath Temple, dedicated to Shiva.

Though many statues have been destroyed, and the remaining art is mostly damaged, yet, there was quite an astonishing amount to see.

Photographing it under the full glare of the Sun, and in the pounding heat, was no easy feat.

But I managed to capture some images.

Here’s one... the usual erotic couple!

Here’s a vyāla trampling upon an elephant (which is pretty badly damaged) – and the random fragment of a woman’s body is lying in front of the figures:

Here’s a closer look at the head of the vyāla:

Please do thank me for half a moment, because getting these snaps was not a very easy task! 😁

I doubt if these images would be easily available on the Internet.

There seems to have been some restoration work, but I doubt how good has this restoration been.

Nevertheless, there’s some interesting iconography to see.

Truth be said, the Buddhanath Temple is a comparatively large temple, and is certainly worth a visit.

Note added on 26^th March, 2024:

Those bell-like objects are ... well ... not bell-like, btw 😊

What are they, precisely, I don’t know. 

Here’s a clearer image from the Mukteśvara Temple; photo was taken by me almost 11 years ago.

A closer look at the motif:

Evidently, there are variations on this theme, because sometimes the object dangling at the end of the chain looks different.

Sometimes they are ball-like objects.

But that is another issue, and not relevant, for the present.

I just thought I should clarify this minor point.