Elephanta rock cut temples

Western india is famous for a string of rock cut temples ranging in date from the 2nd century BC to the 12th cen AD.around Mumbai. within a radius of 20 kms lie several caves which include the buddhist rock cut temples of Kanheri and Kondivite and the brahmanical caves of Elephanta, Mandapesvar and Jogeshwari.

The island of elephanta originally known as gharapuri, derives its name from a massive stone elephant now displayed in the victoria gardens at Mumbai. Except for a few Kshatrapa coins of the 4th cen AD found here, nothing is known of the history of elephanta prior to the defeat of mauryan rulers if konkan by the chalukyan emperor Pulakesin 2 of badami in a naval battle of the island in 635 AD.

there are three caves (rock cut temples) out of which one is dedicated to shiva. others are of no particular interest. the main cave datable to the mid 7th cen AD conprises of a pillared hall in which a small shrine with four entrance doors is flanked by dwarapalas. it is a unique example of gupta and chalukyan art. while the massive but graceful figures of divinities and guardians and certain architectural features such as square pillars with cushion capitals suggest chalukyan influences the depiction of mountains and clouds and the hair styles of the women are reminiscent of gupta art.

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All about Shiva - truely an enigmatic diety!

Here is more on Lord Shiva. I know i sound religious, but to be honest i have been really fascinated with this diety. he is truely amazing and terribly anti-social at the same time, which is whats most interesting. here is something of interest to you. A list of his various forms as far as I can remember, in alphabetical order(they were my mailing list folders :D)

Andhakasuravadh
Ardhanarishwara
Bhikshatana
Dakshinamurti
Gangadhara
Harihara
Kailasanatha
Lingodbhava
Nataraja
Rhishabavana
Sanathana
Somaskandha
Tandava
Tripuranthaka
Trivikrama

Most importantly, the linga is sculpted only for the lingodbhava murti!

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Photos courtesy: Michael D. Gunther

Shiva at Elephanta for the tourist.

To the untrained eye, Elephanta is all but a tourist spot, known to have a few sculptures which are almost reduced to dust now. Elephanta caves are remote, carved into a hill near the Mumbai coast.



Little is known about the true nature of these caves except for a few sculptures that speak of the glories of Lord Shiva. Interesting facts are that these caves at Elephanta are the only surviving caves that depict Shiva. No where else in India do we find a cave dedicated to Shiva, with a Linga in the central shrines. The silence and the darkness of these caves does have a lot in store for us.

I had learned before that there is more to that darkness than what meets the eye. Here is an idea on what is actually the biggest quest of life. A series of iconographic sculpture depicting the paradoxes of life. In case you are headed to Elephanta, this is what you should look for.

These sculptures include:
Marriage of Shiva and Parvati - Kalyanasundara murti,
Shiva holding the Ganges - Gangadhara,
Ravana shaking Kailasa - Ravana Anugrahamurti,
Shiva as Ardhanarishwara,
The dancing shiva - Lasya form Nataraja,
The lord of the yogis - Yogiswara
The destroyer of evil - Samharamurti
Trimurti - comprising of Aghora, Shiva and Vamadeva
Shiva who bestows gifts - Anugrahamurti

Right through the cave His aura is felt - silent, enigmatic, meditating... Interestingly, Shiva has many more forms like the Bhikshatana, Gajasuvadhamurthi, Tandava Nataraja, Lingodbhava murthi, none of which are depicted in this cave, but do make a permanent appearance in later temples of south India.

Dwarapalas of shiva temple - Elephanta.

The Linga shrine in the cave temple of Shiva is unusual in having four entrances, one at each cardinal direction. Beautiful dvarapalas guard the entrances. Although detached from the walls, the shrine is, like everything else in the cave, cut from a matrix of living rock.



Extensive damage has been done to these guardian sculptures, by the Portuguese. Yet their appearance and their crowns gives us a hint of how flamboyant they are. Their silence speaks of a thousand wars long time ago. The yajnopavita is very clearly defined here, of what is commonly known as the brahmin holy thread.

These dwarapalas remind us of Egyptian deities along the temple walls at Abu Simbel. Large life size sculptures re-emphasize either the supernatural or the imperialism of the ruling dynasty. The trend of dwarapalas continued though they were borught down well in size. Few temples later show four gateways to the shrine within, its was a piece of architecture that was slowly stopped as a practice.

This image is of the dwarapalas at Elephanta caves near Mumbai.

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Photos courtesy: Michael D. Gunther / www.art-and-archaeology.com

Deep within the walls of Elephanta

This is a silent cave, built by the Vakatakas and located off the Mumbai coast,which is dedicated to Lord Shiva. Strange but true, its one of its kind and truly magnificent. It has an aura of suspense and a shroud of the unknown envelopes this cave.



Within its walls are one of the greatest treasures of art history. All the cave walls depict a story from Shiva's exploits. These mythologies include:

Andhakasuravada murthi
Kalyanasundara murthi
Ardhanarishwara
Trimurti
Saptamatrikas
Nataraja
Vrishabhavana


This cave has a lot to contribute not only to the iconography of Shiva but also to cave architecture during those ages. Its very evident that they were still experimenting with cave architecture and attempting to give full justice to the canons of architecture for the garba griha. In this cave we see the garbha griha has 4 entrances each in a cardinal direction.
The striking features of this dark place is a square linga enshrined in a garbha griha, with life size dwarapalas on all side which are damaged but beautiful.

Elephants is one of very few cave temples that depict Lord Shiva to the fullest. The other Shiva temple during the same period is Kailasanatha temple at Ellora.

Bhringi the three legged sage.

Bhringi, a great devotee of Lord Shiva, is shown sculpted here on the walls of a Shiva temple in the Vijayanagar period. The story of Bhringi is quite interesting.



Sage Bhringi was an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva, but he never considered Parvati to be a part of his worship.

As always, sage Bhringi meditated over Lord Shiva at his abode at Mount Kailasa. At the end of his worship he would religiously circum-ambulate Lord Shiva. Parvati having seen this ritual of Bhringi, chose to be part of it and sat closer to Lord Shiva. Sage Bhringi noticed this, and realizing what had just happened, turned himself into a bee and went around Shiva thrice.

Parvati was enraged and Shiva wanted to teach Bhringi a lesson that Parvati is an integral part of Him and cannot be excluded. He merged Himself with Parvati such that Bhringi would have to circum-ambulate both of them.

Bhringi is often depicted as a skeleton in most images, this is because Parvati cursed him in fury to become thin and completely emaciated, so weak that he could not stand. Shiva, moved by Bhringi's plight, gave a 3rd leg for support.

Hence Bhringi is always depicted with three legs.

Chaturamukha Linga

Chaturamukha linga or the four faced linga: typically a linga is devided into three parts - the rudra bhaga which is the bottom most part, most often this is not visible as it is placed in the groove of the yoni. the second part is the vishnu bhaga and the top most part is the shiva bhaga. only 3/4ths of this linga will be visible above the yoni. come to think of it shaivism pretty much deals with fertility worship.



More on shiva: The mythology of Shiva is complex and contradictory. He is sometimes depicted as a chaste, wandering ascetic, but at the same time an ideal family man, monogamous, powerful and fertile. Shiva is usually worshipped in the form of the linga, an erect phallus. Rather than an image charged with sexuality, the linga is regarded more as a symbol of the god's energy and potential.

The four faces, each pointing in a cardinal direction, allude to Shiva's most prominent aspects. These comprise Bhairava, a manifestation of Shiva in his terrifying form, two faces which show his different attitudes as a withdrawn and serene ascetic and lastly, Parvati, his consort, the embodiment of feminine power.

The four-faced linga is sometimes regarded as symbolic of the five elements – Earth, Water, Wind, Fire and Space, the latter alluded to by the invisible face imagined to be on top of the sculpture and referred to by the vertical axis.

The lingam - Phallic symbol of Lord Shiva.

Shiva is one of the oldest dieties in the Indian pantheon of Gods. He was first depicted on Indus valley seals as Pashupata. The first depictions are of him in a yogic pose, with a horn crown over his head. He is surrounded by animals including a unicorn. Mukha lingas are found across the country. the Ekamukha linga, dvimukha linga chatura mukha linga, so on and so forth.



His later sculptures depictions his various exploits. He is depicted in his symbolic form, the phallus in most temples in the Garba Griha. His human form adorns the outer walls. This sculpture is from the early 5th cen AD, the place - cave 4, udayagiri, MP.
This is a single faced linga, The rock-cut caves at Udayagiri seem to have been the focus of a complex mixture of Shiva worship (interior), Vishnu worship (exterior), sun worship, and astronomical activity including the prediction of monsoons.

His jattas, long ear lobes(like buddha) and his third eye!!!

Ardhanarishwara - union of Shiva and parvati

The sculpture of ardhanarishwara is one of the most unique sculptures ever conceived. It depicts the union of shiva and parvati. The story behind the making of this sculpture goes as follows. Sage Bhringi was an ardent devotee of lord shiva, but he never considered parvati to be a part of his worship.


As always, sage Bhringi meditated on lord Shiva. The sage regularly worshiped lord Shiva at his abode in the Kailasa moutain. at the end of his worship he would religiously circum-ambulate Shiva. On one of these regular occasions, Parvati observed him and moved up close to Shiva so that bhringi would have to go around both of them instead of Shiva alone.

Sage bhringi noticed this, and realizing what had just happened, he turned himself into a bee and went around shiva thrice. This enraged Parvati and Shiva noticed what had happened. In order to teach bhringi a lesson that parvati is a part of him and cannot be excluded, he merged himself with parvati such that bhringi would have to circum ambulate both instead of just him.

The sculpture depicts the same form that shiva aquired in order to let bhringi know that he is incomplete without parvati.

An add on: bhringi is often depicted as a skeleton in most images, this is because parvati having noticed that bhringi did not go around her, cursed him in fury to become thin and completely emaciated, so weak that he could not stand. shiva, moved by bhringi's plight, gave a third leg for support.

The ideology behind Soma Skanda

Most mythologies that circle around Shiva have subtle meanings in the science of Kundalini. The concept of Kundalini deals with Shiva in many ways. It is a school of thought that enables a human being to attain salvation through certain practices.

Its a belief that every human being has male and female energy within him/ herself. The female energy is typically referred to the kinetic energy and resides in the Muladhara chakra at the tip of the spinal chord. This element is represented as "Parvati" from the mythological perspective. The element of Shiva is the inactive energy which is housed in the region of the third eye. The merger of these two energies is defined as enlightenment which can be realized by individual experiences alone and cannot be explained.

As the female kinetic energy rises through the spinal chord upwards it has to pass through various energy centers called chakras. When the chakra at the throat region is activated, the aspirant is no longer dependent on the external world for his sustenance. The eternal drink of immortality or Soma/Amrit is believed to flow freely and the aspirant turns "immortal".

Soma Skanda in simpler terms, is the result of the union of these two potent opposite forces giving rebirth to the aspirant as an evolved being. This is best described in mythology as the union of Shiva and Parvati resulting in the birth of Soma Skanda and hence results in immortality.

The concept of Shiva - Somaskanda murthi

In Indian iconography, Shiva is often depicted in one of two forms. The soumya(pleasant) rupa(form) and the (a)ghora(terrific) rupa. In ancient times Shiva cults across India has been accepted as esoteric, magical and often non conformist. He is worshiped at cremation grounds, his company is depicted as ghosts and dwarfs and ganas etc... His exploits in various mythological stories appear reasonably rebellious to social order, yet he is one of the most respected deities in the pantheon of Gods.

Depictions of him in soumya rupas are related to his family. Here the reference is made to his son Karthikeya also called Soma Skanda. Soma - is also a drink. It is an intoxicant, it is also the elixir to immortality.

Shiva is also associated with the Tantric school of thought that deals with the raising of the Kundalini. This sculpture, though very simple and basic holds a far more amazing concept than what meets the eye.

Somaskandamurthi:
Somaskandamurthy is one of the most famous sculptures of Shiva and depicts Shiva with Parvati and their son Karthikeya. This sculpture is a Chola sculpture from then 10th century AD, in the Rajaraja Museum at Tanjore.

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Photos courtesy: Michael D. Gunther / ww.art-and-archaeology.com