Carvings from Jain Cave 32.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Ellora Cave 29 - Goddess Yamuna!!!!
According to Hindu religion a very famous king Bhagiratha did Tapasya for many years constantly to bring the river Ganges, then residing in the Heavens, down on the Earth to find salvation for his ancestors, who were cursed by a seer. Therefore, Ganges descended to the Earth through the lock of hair (Jata) of god Shiva to make whole earth pious, fertile and wash out the sins of humans. For Hindus in India, the Ganges is not just a river but a mother, a goddess, a tradition, a culture and much more.
Ellora Cave 29 Shiv Parvati Marriage!
The Carving presents the marriage of Shiva and Parvati. You can see here the gods are present for marriage ceremony. Brahma is doing the vedic chanting. Shiva is holding hand of parvati.
Hindu wedding Ceremonies are traditionally conducted at least partially in Sanskrit, the language in which most holy Hindu ceremonies are conducted. The local language of the people involved is also used since most Hindus cannot understand Sanskrit. They have many rituals that have evolved since traditional times and differ in many ways from the modern western wedding ceremony and also among the different regions, families, and castes weddings. The Hindus attach a lot of importance to marriages and the ceremonies are very colorful and extend for several days.
Ellora Cave 29 - Shiva-Parvati - Playing Game Saripat ( Indian - Chess)
Shiva & Parvati - Playing Game Saripat ( Indian - Chess)
Story associated with is......
As usual gods are no seperate than human being.... Husband Shiva is playing with wife Parvati the game of Dice - in Marathi is called Saripat, in Hindi this is called as Chaturaji.
Always shiva use to win this game, to defeat him Pravati playe trick. but she was caught and shiva teased her of her cheating.
In above carving you can see that the game is placed in between them and Shiva holds hand of Goddess parvati for cheating. Every one is watching them. God's around them are laughing.
The bottom section displays the Nandi -
Vehicle of Shiva: The bull Nandi is Shiva's primary vehicle and is the principal gana (follower) of Shiva.
Gate keeper of Shiva's abode: The close association of Shiva and Nandi explains the presence of a statue of Nandi at the gate of many temples dedicated to Siva. It also explains why the word "nandi" in the Kannada, Telugu and Tamil languages is used as a metaphor for a person blocking the way. In Sanskrit, a bull is called "vrisha", which has another connotation - that of righteousness or Dharma. It is important to seek the blessings of Nandi before proceeding to worship Lord Shiva.
Chief in Shiva's army: Some Puranas mention that Nandi lead the Shiva Ganas, Shiva's attendants.
From the yogic perspective, Nandi/Nandhi/ Nandikeshvara is the mind dedicated to Lord Siva, the Absolute. In other words, to understand and absorb Light, the 'experience and the wisdom' is Nandi which is the Guru within.
About Sari-pat Game- This is referred as god Shiva’s favorite game. It’s a cross with four pans on each sides and squire at center. Each pan contains 5 blocks (called house) in two rows. with tow dices marked number of grooves to indicate numbers is used to place marker in that particular house. penalties and points are gained in this way.
Another version of the Saripat - Chaturaji (means "four kings", also known as "Choupat") a four player chess-like game. It was first described in detail circa 1030 by Biruni in his India book. Originally, this was a game of chance: the pieces to be moved were decided by rolling two dice. A diceless variant of the game was still played in India at the close of the 19th century.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaturaji
Ellora Cave 29 - Dumar Leni - Sita ki Nahani.
This carving of Shiva - Parvati is associated with story.......
According to Hinduism, Lord Shiva, the destroyer of evil and sorrow, resides at the summit of a legendary mountain named Kailasa, where he sits in a state of perpetual meditation along with his wife Parvati, the daughter of Himalaya.
Ravana is a character in Hindu mythology, who is the primary antagonist of the Hindu historical epic, the Ramayana. In the classic text, he is mainly depicted negatively, who infamously kidnapped Rama's wife Sita.
This depiction is, however, open to other interpretations. Ravana is a great scholar, a capable ruler, a player of the veena and a devoted follower of Shiva, and he has his apologists and staunch devotees within the Hindu traditions. The symbolic meaning of "10 headed" is that he is guided by and does not have control over by the five senses and five bodily instruments of action.
His counterpart, Rama, on the contrary, is always in full control of these ten. An alternative interpretation is that he possessed a very thorough knowledge in the 4 vedas, and 6 upanishadas, which made him as powerful as 10 scholars.
Ravana also authored Ravana Sanhita, a powerful book on the Hindu astrology, also known as Lal Kitab. Ravana possessed a thorough knowledge of Ayurveda and political science. He is said to have possessed the nectar of immortality, which was stored under his navel, thanks to a celestial boon by Brahma.
The largest and most important rock-cut temple, Kailash Temple at Ellora, Maharashtra is named after Mount Kailash. Many of its sculptures and reliefs depict episodes relating to Lord Shiva and Maa Parvati, including Ravana's tale. (Ravana was a devotee of Lord Siva. Ramayana does not document Ravan shaking Kailasa mountain.) Ravana's mother had fallen ill, as they were great Lord Shiva devotees, he had attempted to carry the Mount Kailasa on his back to bring it closer to his mother. Shiva being stunned by his bravoure, had blessed him with immortality as Ravana had passed Lord Shiva's test on devotion.
In above carving you can see the 10 Face of Ravana with multiple hands trying to pick up the seat of Shiva-Parvati and other people. But when he was about to getup, Shiva who never wanted to go with him, touched the earth. The bond between Earth and shiva became heavy for Ravana to breakup, he could not pickup the Mount. Shiva blessed him for his devotion.
You can also see the left side of the Ravan, where there are dwarfs are carved and they are laugh at Ravana when he fail to lift the Mount Kailasa.
According to Hinduism, Lord Shiva, the destroyer of evil and sorrow, resides at the summit of a legendary mountain named Kailasa, where he sits in a state of perpetual meditation along with his wife Parvati, the daughter of Himalaya.
Ravana is a character in Hindu mythology, who is the primary antagonist of the Hindu historical epic, the Ramayana. In the classic text, he is mainly depicted negatively, who infamously kidnapped Rama's wife Sita.
This depiction is, however, open to other interpretations. Ravana is a great scholar, a capable ruler, a player of the veena and a devoted follower of Shiva, and he has his apologists and staunch devotees within the Hindu traditions. The symbolic meaning of "10 headed" is that he is guided by and does not have control over by the five senses and five bodily instruments of action.
His counterpart, Rama, on the contrary, is always in full control of these ten. An alternative interpretation is that he possessed a very thorough knowledge in the 4 vedas, and 6 upanishadas, which made him as powerful as 10 scholars.
Ravana also authored Ravana Sanhita, a powerful book on the Hindu astrology, also known as Lal Kitab. Ravana possessed a thorough knowledge of Ayurveda and political science. He is said to have possessed the nectar of immortality, which was stored under his navel, thanks to a celestial boon by Brahma.
The largest and most important rock-cut temple, Kailash Temple at Ellora, Maharashtra is named after Mount Kailash. Many of its sculptures and reliefs depict episodes relating to Lord Shiva and Maa Parvati, including Ravana's tale. (Ravana was a devotee of Lord Siva. Ramayana does not document Ravan shaking Kailasa mountain.) Ravana's mother had fallen ill, as they were great Lord Shiva devotees, he had attempted to carry the Mount Kailasa on his back to bring it closer to his mother. Shiva being stunned by his bravoure, had blessed him with immortality as Ravana had passed Lord Shiva's test on devotion.
In above carving you can see the 10 Face of Ravana with multiple hands trying to pick up the seat of Shiva-Parvati and other people. But when he was about to getup, Shiva who never wanted to go with him, touched the earth. The bond between Earth and shiva became heavy for Ravana to breakup, he could not pickup the Mount. Shiva blessed him for his devotion.
You can also see the left side of the Ravan, where there are dwarfs are carved and they are laugh at Ravana when he fail to lift the Mount Kailasa.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Yakshini - Ellora Cave 17 -1
This is photo of a "Yakshini"(Yakshinis (Sanskrit: याक्षिणि, also called yaksinis or yaksis and yakkhini in Pali) are mythical beings of Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain mythology.)
A yakshini is the female counterpart of the male yaksha, and they both attend on Kubera (also called Kuber), the Hindu god of wealth who rules in the mythical Himalayan kingdom of Alaka. They both look after treasure hidden in the earth and resemble that of fairies. Yakshinis are often depicted as beautiful and voluptuous, with wide hips, narrow waists, broad shoulders, and exaggerated, spherical breasts.
In the Uddamareshvara Tantra, thirty-six yakshinis are described, including their mantras and ritual prescriptions. A similar list of yakshas and yakshinis is given in the Tantraraja Tantra, where it says that these beings are givers of whatever is desired. Although Yakshinis are usually benevolent, there are also yakshinis with malevolent characteristics in Indian folklore.
The earliest images of women in India are a set of Mauryan period figurines. These figures are not the first art objects to represent the feminine. Leaving aside the figures of the Harappan civilization which appear to be stylistically and culturally unconnected with anything in the historic period, there are terracotta images, believed to represent fertility or mother goddess figures. These are not images, they are symbols. They do not pretend to represent the physical impression of the female form.
The Mauryan figures are directly linked to these early fertility figures. The idea of producing an image of women in plastic arts clearly arose during the fourth and third centuries.
Only evidence for it comes from the region of Patna at the heart of the Mauryan Empire so it is assumed that the impetus probably came from the court artists of that period and locality, but we lack evidence to say for certain. The artists had several options in these early figures (fateful choices, as they would set the pattern for Indian female images for a millenia); they could copy the image of some other society, such as China, Greece or Iran; they could produce a naturalistic image from life; of they could modify a local tradition.
They choose the third. The Mauryan terracotta girls are the ancient fertility figures transformed from symbol to image. Large breasts, wide hips, tapering legs, are all retained but now the artists no longer symbolize the feminine, they now attempt to represent it.
Ellora Caves
Ellora Caves - :-
This is an archaeological site near Verul village, Tq Khultabad, Dist Aurangabad. 30 km (19 mi) from the city of Aurangabad in the Indian state of Maharashtra. These caves are carved in 500 Years by generations of the carvers. In and around time frame of Rashtrakuta rulers. Well-known for its monumental caves, Ellora is a World Heritage Site.[1] Ellora represents the epitome of Indian rock-cut architecture. These are 34 "caves" – actually structures excavated out of the vertical face of the Charanandri hills – being Buddhist, Hindu and Jain rock cut temples and monasteries. These were built between the 5th century and 10th century. The 12 Buddhist (caves 1–12), 17 Hindu (caves 13–29) and 5 Jain (caves 30–34) caves, built in proximity, demonstrate the religious harmony prevalent during this period of Indian history.
In the time domain 500BC to 300 BC the village Verul was close to the business route from Paithan to the Ujjain. All the business caravans use to pass near this site.
Information about Paithan :
Paithan formerly Pratishthana, the city was the capital of the Sa-tava-hana empire of ancient India that ruled from 2nd century BC to 2nd century AD. It is one of the few inland towns mentioned in the famous 1st century AD Greek book, Periplus Maris Erytharaei. Paithan is located 56 km south of present-day Aurangabad on the Godavari River in Maharashtra. The town is mostly famous today for its sarees — the Paithani beautiful silk saris which sport intricately embroidered gold or silver borders.
Information about Ujjain :
Ujjain (also known as Ujjain, Ujjayini, Avanti, Avantikapuri), is an ancient city of Malwa region in central India, on the eastern bank of the Kshipra River (today part of the state of Madhya Pradesh). It is the administrative centre of Ujjain District and Ujjain Division.
In ancient times the city was called Ujjayini. As mentioned in the Mahabharata epic, Ujjayini was the capital of the Avanti Kingdom, and has been the Prime Meridian for Hindu geographers since the 4th century BCE. Ujjain is one of the seven sacred cities(Sapta puri) of the Hindus, and the Kumbh Mela religious festival is held there every 12 years. It is also home to Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga, one of the twelve Jyotirlinga shrines to the god Shiva and is also the place where Lord Krishna got education with Balarama and Sudama from Maharshi Sandipani. According to the Puranas, the city of Ujjain was called Avantika and was famous for its beauty and its devotional epicenter. It was also one of the primary cities where students went to study holy scriptures.
Information about Grishneshwar:
Grishneshwar, also known as Ghushmeshwar, is a famous Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva and is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, the sacred abodes of Shiva. The temple is located eleven km from Daulatabad, near Aurangabad in Maharashtra India. The temple is located near the famous Ellora Caves.
Pilgrim Path : From Grishneshwar to Mahakaleshwar was also present in the old time. Thus the importance to this place was very high.
It's been observed that the Buddhist caves are old than rest of the caves, if we compare the period of development. Buddhist caves were monasteries, In my opinion most of the time the carvings and paintings are done by the Buddhist monks. As this was normal style to remember the god. It's possible that this practice of Buddhist monks may have been adopted/learned by the next generation carvers.
The donations from kings, regional rulers, rich people and travelers was used for livelihood of the sculptors. One generation of the sculptors might have developed the next generations.
It's been explained that the 10 generations of the sculptors were working to carve the "Kailas Leni" (Cave 16 of Ellora) for 200 years.
This is an archaeological site near Verul village, Tq Khultabad, Dist Aurangabad. 30 km (19 mi) from the city of Aurangabad in the Indian state of Maharashtra. These caves are carved in 500 Years by generations of the carvers. In and around time frame of Rashtrakuta rulers. Well-known for its monumental caves, Ellora is a World Heritage Site.[1] Ellora represents the epitome of Indian rock-cut architecture. These are 34 "caves" – actually structures excavated out of the vertical face of the Charanandri hills – being Buddhist, Hindu and Jain rock cut temples and monasteries. These were built between the 5th century and 10th century. The 12 Buddhist (caves 1–12), 17 Hindu (caves 13–29) and 5 Jain (caves 30–34) caves, built in proximity, demonstrate the religious harmony prevalent during this period of Indian history.
In the time domain 500BC to 300 BC the village Verul was close to the business route from Paithan to the Ujjain. All the business caravans use to pass near this site.
Information about Paithan :
Paithan formerly Pratishthana, the city was the capital of the Sa-tava-hana empire of ancient India that ruled from 2nd century BC to 2nd century AD. It is one of the few inland towns mentioned in the famous 1st century AD Greek book, Periplus Maris Erytharaei. Paithan is located 56 km south of present-day Aurangabad on the Godavari River in Maharashtra. The town is mostly famous today for its sarees — the Paithani beautiful silk saris which sport intricately embroidered gold or silver borders.
Information about Ujjain :
Ujjain (also known as Ujjain, Ujjayini, Avanti, Avantikapuri), is an ancient city of Malwa region in central India, on the eastern bank of the Kshipra River (today part of the state of Madhya Pradesh). It is the administrative centre of Ujjain District and Ujjain Division.
In ancient times the city was called Ujjayini. As mentioned in the Mahabharata epic, Ujjayini was the capital of the Avanti Kingdom, and has been the Prime Meridian for Hindu geographers since the 4th century BCE. Ujjain is one of the seven sacred cities(Sapta puri) of the Hindus, and the Kumbh Mela religious festival is held there every 12 years. It is also home to Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga, one of the twelve Jyotirlinga shrines to the god Shiva and is also the place where Lord Krishna got education with Balarama and Sudama from Maharshi Sandipani. According to the Puranas, the city of Ujjain was called Avantika and was famous for its beauty and its devotional epicenter. It was also one of the primary cities where students went to study holy scriptures.
Information about Grishneshwar:
Grishneshwar, also known as Ghushmeshwar, is a famous Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva and is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, the sacred abodes of Shiva. The temple is located eleven km from Daulatabad, near Aurangabad in Maharashtra India. The temple is located near the famous Ellora Caves.
Pilgrim Path : From Grishneshwar to Mahakaleshwar was also present in the old time. Thus the importance to this place was very high.
It's been observed that the Buddhist caves are old than rest of the caves, if we compare the period of development. Buddhist caves were monasteries, In my opinion most of the time the carvings and paintings are done by the Buddhist monks. As this was normal style to remember the god. It's possible that this practice of Buddhist monks may have been adopted/learned by the next generation carvers.
The donations from kings, regional rulers, rich people and travelers was used for livelihood of the sculptors. One generation of the sculptors might have developed the next generations.
It's been explained that the 10 generations of the sculptors were working to carve the "Kailas Leni" (Cave 16 of Ellora) for 200 years.
The photos in the Picasa section of this web-page are of caves 17 to cave 32.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Shiva the mighty God.
In india there are so many cults in Hindu religion, and the oldest we see is the Shiva and Shakti.
Shiva is usually worshipped in the abstract form of Shiva linga. In images, he is generally represented as immersed in deep meditation or dancing the Tandava upon Maya, the demon of ignorance in his manifestation of Nataraja, the lord of the dance.
As per my knowledge the most powerful is Shiva cult. why this become more powerful? No one have the precise answer for this.Let me know your views.
Depiction of the Hindu god Shiva as the cosmic dancer who performs his divine dance to destroy a weary universe and make preparations for god Brahma to start the process of creation. Nataraja is most often depicted through a statue.
The sculpture depicts, with Shiva dancing in an aureole of flames, lifting his left leg (and in rare cases, the right leg) and balancing over a demon or dwarf (Apasmara) who symbolizes ignorance. It is a well known sculptural symbol in India and popularly used as a symbol of Indian culture.
The two most common forms of Shiva's dance are the Lasya (the gentle form of dance), associated with the creation of the world, and the Tandava (the violent and dangerous dance), associated with the destruction of weary worldviews - weary perspectives & lifestyles. In essence, the Lasya and the Tandava are just two aspects of Shiva's nature; for he destroys in order to create, tearing down to build again.
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