Cow, Horse, Lion and Crocodile are common shapes of the Pranala. A Pranala is not shaped like a horse

There are 12 Jyotirlingas, Kedarnath, Vaidyanath, Kashi, Somnath, Omkareshwar, Ujjain, Bhimashankar, Triambakeshwar, Srisailam, Grishneshwar, Rameswaram and Dwarka

It refers to the concept that the body itself is a devaalaya. Suddhi (cleansing of organs), Nyasa (invoking divinity within the body), Mudra (making effective gestures), Mandala (symbolic representation of divinity), Mantra (realising deity in one’s own heart), Pranayama (regulation of breath), Dhyana (contemplation) and Sohambhavana (becoming one with divinity). These refer to the various practices which help realise the divinity within the human body.

The picture is of Kamakhya Adi Shakti Peeth temple in Guwahati.

The Dravidian style temple in Begur has an inscription which probably refers to the original name which later on may have morphed and become Bengaluru.

The deity disseminates chaitanya or energy to the devotees. This energy is transferred to the deity at the time of pranapratishtapana and has to be kept alive. The purpose of the daily rituals is to keep this energy alive.

Vimaana is the only part that defines the style of the temple

Bhitti, Prastara and Griva are parts of a Drivada Vimaana. Gandhi refers to part of a Rekha Deul of Nagara style Vimaana

Shiva responded to Parvati’s request for narrating a story that has never been heard before. The Brihatkatha was a result of this narration of Shiva which ran into 10 lakh verses much of which has been lost now.

Kirti Mukha represents one who has eaten his own body. Kirti means popularity. Once a Rakshasa wanted to be the most popular one. He got a blessing from Brahma. He started overpowering everyone and in his greed he started eating his own body with unlimited power. So only the eyes and mouth are shown in the Keerti Mukha. Brahma recreated him eventually. As a sign of warning he granted him a position above all deities. This serves as a metaphor for greed and excessive consumption. It reminds the devotees to give up greed and avarice when visiting a temple.

The India Pride project was started as a legal effort to bring back the antiquities. It engaged in legal battles and in dialogues to identify and bring back antiquities to India

The deity was originally made of wood. It was replaced with a new deity made out of 1200 Shaligramas that were specially collected for this purpose. They are moulded into shape with a special kind of mortar made of a compound of lime and granite, covered with a paste of molasses and mustard.

Bana Lingas are found in the river bed of Narmada in Omkareshwar which is also one of the Jyotirlingas.

The Chilkur Balaji temple lost 5 deities due to theft. These have still not been traced. The Purohit of Chilkur Balaji temple made an plea passionately for the holders of the deities to return them to India. He also highlights the apathy with which ASI treats recovered deities.

As per Indian practice, measuring a deity reduces the deity to a material aspect which it is not supposed to be. A Vigraha captures the infinite principle and is not limited physically. Therefore most of the Indian deities are not documented. Further village deities are many and they lack documentation.