|
Found some one and a half hours out of
Bombay, by boat, are the caves of the mountainous island of Elephanta.
Thought to date back to the Silhara kings
of the 9th through 12th centuries A.D., these magnificent caves contain
beautiful reliefs, sculptures, and a temple to the
Hindu god Lord Shiva
The caves and the temple of Shiva it holds are now designated as a
UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Three journeys must be taken to reach the temple: first passage across
water, a mountain must be climbed, and a cave entered. This gives
worshipers a sense of duty and preparation to be in the home of Shiva.
After the boat ride, visitors must climb halfway up the mountain on
magnificent stone steps, until on the right side a broad door opens in
the volcanic rock. It leads into one of the biggest cave-temples of
ancient India.
Heavy pillars, carved from the rock, bear the roof. The area is divided
by columns, creating equal rows and aisles. Toward the west is a square
sanctuary detached from the walls. Marvelous representations from Indian
mythology are carved on the walls. In the massive, main niche towers an
image of the deity Shiva: a three-headed form (Mahadeva Maheshvara,
Mahashamurti), depicted from the chest up, growing out of the rock,
three times the size of a human being.
The middle head looks straight ahead, silent and powerful; the other two
heads are shown in profile. The image portrays Shiva as the creator, the
preserver, and the destroyer of the world, and at the same time as the
savior and giver of blessings.
To see the temple would truly be worth a trip to India in itself and
from the spirit of the religion that lived there one can learn more in
an hour of actually being there than from all the books ever written on
it.
Another significant point within the cave is the linga (phallus). It has
doors with stone guardians, both graceful and powerful. This houses the
sanctuary and worship site. The stone of the linga is literally a "sign"
of the god. It is a small physical space, to represent and reflect.
Worshippers believe that man is constantly trying to move outward from
himself, into larger and larger spaces and that reflection on the
inside, coming back to oneself, is a difficult process to be mastered in
the temple, amidst all the godly energy.
|
