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Continued from the last post…. in which we visited Buddhist and Jainism Excavation. In this post we will visit Brahmanical series (Ellora Caves No. 13 to 29).
Brahmanical Excavations
The Brahmanical series,
excavated between the seventh and ninth centuries are glimpses of a world apart
from the chaitya hall and Viharas. The familiars Buddha’s and Bodhisattvas are
gone. The Brahmanical religion in India was based at the outset on the concept
of one Supreme Being but in later ages it was reflected through dramatic
expression in symbolic figures. The imagination and the poetry of the new
concept were reflected in art which attained a new visual grace and power.
It is good to remember that
the Brahmanical revival which produced this group of Ellora caves under royal
patronage had nothing in it of intolerance against the Buddhist system fought
entirely in the intellectual arena.
Cave 14 serves as an introduction to the new order. In the first
panel to the left there is Durga the mother goddess, whose worship forms a
great festival in India.
Cave 15 is reached after a long climb over steps which lead
to carved gate. Double storied, it has a courtyard with several small shrines
and chambers for the temple priests. The first floor holds the presiding deity
of the temple the lingam and facing it in the center stage is the Bull (Nandi),
who is Shiva’s mount and an inevitable feature in all Shiva shrines.
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| Cave15 |
