These pictures are from the Temple of the 64 Yoginis in Hirapur (City of Diamonds)

This is near Bhubaneswar, the capital of the state of Orissa in India.

Many esoteric traditions linked with the worship of Shakti still live on in Orissa.

A friend's father once wryly remarked :  '" the train from Madras to Calcutta passed Orissa in the night. So the world forgot about our existence."

I think that was a blessing in disguise.

Note: The fearsome looking deity in the middle is a photograph from another temple on the way to Hirapur.

See this nice travel piece on the place  from this blog :

http://alongway.wordpress.com/2007/05/18/the-64-yoginis-of-orissa/