Street Views in Puri -

Darling Jagannath greets from almost every shelf

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This house stands just a few steps from where the brahmins get their new strings

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Look at this detail

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of this pillar

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detail of an arch

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my favorite symbol, the mysterious Makara, the half aquatic, half terrestrial Dragon, depicted sometimes as crocodile, elephant with teeth, shark or here hog, seen especially in South Indian temple architecture

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an apsara accompanied by stone pigeons

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another one

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of nature and art, creation and decay

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a closer view

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birds of the same feather...

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one house further this sight

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some kind of dragon

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same street: simpler...

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... and sweeter

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a goddess

QUOTE

Gajalakshmi is one of the earliest depictions of the goddess. The elephants symbolise Airavata, the heavenly elephant of Indra. These elephants which are synonymous with rain-bearing clouds, empty pots of water over the goddess with their trunks reinforcing the theme of fertility and abundance.

Gajalakshmi images carved over the lintels of doorways bring prosperity into the dwelling. In Indian sculpture the image is often repeated. Among the Gajalakshmi representations are the splendid ones in the Badami Caves and the Adi Varaha cave at Mamallapuram where the Goddess is the very embodiment of beauty. To bring out the immediacy of the wealth motif, in some ancient seals, the goddess is attended by a yaksha standing beside jars of money or pouring out a stream of wealth.

http://www.hinduonnet.com/folio/fo0008/00080480.htm

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Gaja Laksmi