Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Across, upwards, and inwards

It takes an hour by boat to get to Elephanta. Once on the island, you climb a set of 120 steps up the hill, to the cave that houses a fourteen hundred year old temple to Shiva.

There is something quite poetic about the idea of "crossing a sea, climbing a mountain, entering a cave" to see God. It is a journey across, upwards, and inwards, and the sculptures that await at the end are a magnificent reward.

First sighting of Elephanta Island. There are mangroves on the coast.

Shiva is such a paradoxical, puzzling God! In the first place, he is both male and female. He is angry and happy, forgiving and vengeful, creator and destroyer, an ascetic and a skilled lover. It doesn't make sense! Or perhaps it makes enormous sense, because we're all a bit like that?

In any case, Elephanta mirrors all of his contradictions with art that simply blows me away.

Panchamukha Shiva - Trimurti representing three aspects of Shiva

Ardhanarishwara - Shiva as Male and Female

3 comments:

sambar42 said...

I dug up some more relevant info..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephanta_Caves

Do you have some more information on the history of these caves?

Do we know what the place was setup for? I actually went there when I was in Bombay. But, the caves themselves were closed when we went, for some reason. Or maybe I rushed through them :-)

I remember taking photographs next to a huge gun left over from British times.

stillwater said...

After the yesterday's attack on Chadramohan, who has drawn the alleged 'vulgar' paintings of hindu deities, I am thinking that by the same logic these VHP buggers should be objecting the Kamasutra as well as the sexual poses of various stone arts in Ajanta and Ellora, or maybe in Elephanta too.

Kill 'em all.

Deepa said...

Sambar, you asked 'what was it set up for?".

Elephanta is a Siva temple. It was set up for prayer. End of story :)