Devotion beyond Temple

Copyright remains with Goutham Ramesh. Please do not reuse this photograph without permission.

Gear

Nikon Zf

Lens

Nikon 24 PCE

Settings

1/80 s · f/3.2 · ISO 280 · 11 mm

In front of the Moola Virupaksha Temple on Hemakuta, there are several lingas carved directly into the rock. I have always wondered who sculpted them, why they were created outside the temple, and why there are so many of them in this open space. We may never know the name of the person who made them, but the devotion behind that act is still visible centuries later.

I placed one of these lingas prominently in the foreground with the temple in the background because, for me, the frame speaks about devotion beyond architecture. The temple is there, but the act of worship seems to have spilled out into the landscape itself. That is what moved me about this scene, the idea that faith could be expressed not only inside a sanctum, but also openly, directly, and permanently upon the rock.