Earth and Space News: Ellora Buddhist Cave 4 Adds Soapberry Seeds as Buddhist Prayer Beads

Summary: Ellora Buddhist Cave 4 in Maharashtra, India, perhaps asserts most ancient appearances and applications of soapberry seeds as Buddhist prayer beads.

"Padmapani in Cave IV" attended by female (lower left) with rosary and female (lower right) with flower bud; sketch by Scottish archaeologist James Burgess (Aug. 14, 1832-Oct. 3, 1916), Report on the Elura Cave Temples (1883), Plate XVI: via Internet Archive

Ellora Buddhist Cave 4 in Maharashtra state, western peninsular India, perhaps artistically archives for maybe 1,500 to 1,600 years the most ancient appearances and applications of soapberry seeds as Buddhist prayer beads.

Gautama Buddha (from Sanskrit गौतम, "light [dispels] darkness"; and बुद्ध, "awakened") bid a bothered, burdened king to begin beading aristaka (from Sanskrit अरिष्टक, "soapberry tree") seeds. Coastal western Maharashtra state claims native soapberry trees, called reetha or ritha (रीठा) in Hindi and Sapindus mukorossi (from Latin sapo, "soap" and indicus, "Indian") scientifically. Perhaps traders as passerby or repeat dwellers of Ellora Buddhist vihara (from Sanskrit विहार, "walking [hall]") dormitory caves did definite numbers of daily devotions at definite times.

Perhaps trading networks entering and exiting Ellora Caves enabled earliest expressions of the local economy's soapberry seeds as earliest mala (from Sanskrit माला, "garland") prayer beads.

Ellora Buddhist Cave 4 features Padmapani (from Sanskrit पद्म, "lotus" and पाणि, "holder") and attending female images with perhaps first-ever Buddhist prayer beads of soapberry seeds.

Ten-plus-year-old soapberry trees with first-fruiting soapberry seeds perhaps guided itinerant artisans under Kalachuri (from Sanskrit कलचुरि) dynasts (550?-before 687 C.E.?) into giving graven images prayer beads. Fruiting soapberry trees yearly harbor 66.14 to 77.16 pounds (30 to 35 kilograms) of orange to yellow, smooth, 0.39 to 0.79-inch (1- to 2-centimeter) diameter fruits. The leathery-skinned fruits each include one to three edible, saponin-free soapberry seeds and saponins with cleansing, insecticidal, polishing, shampooing, soil-remediating properties and with traditional medicinal applications.

Soapberry trees, with cylindrical, straight trunks, journey from green wood cuttings or, with one- to three-month germinations and two-year viabilities, from seeds into 70-plus-year life cycles.

Perhaps itinerant artisans of Ellora Buddhist Cave 4 kept their own prayer beads of soapberry seeds from feather-leafed, spring- through summer-flowering, fall- and winter-fruiting soapberry trees.

The deciduous (from Latin dēcidēre, "to fall") woody plant yearly loses its 5.9 to 15.7-inch- (15- to 40-centimeter-) long leaves, each with 14 to 30 leaflets. Mature 39.37 to 65.62-foot- (12- to 20-meter-) tall, 9.84- to 16.40-foot (3- to 5-meter) diameter trees manifest gray heartwood, tan-white flowers, yellow-orange fruits and yellow-white sapwood. Soapberry trees, noted scientifically by Joseph Gaertner (March 12, 1732-July 14, 1791), need open, rocky, sunny, well-drained soils through 1,968.50- to 4,265.09-foot (600- to 1,300-meter) altitudes.

Annual average 56.05- to 78.74-inch (1,500- to 2,000-millimeter) rainfall and coldest temperatures above 10 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 12.22 degrees Celsius) optimize survival rates of soapberry trees.

Ellora Buddhist Cave 4 presents carved prayer beads, perhaps of soapberry seeds produced natively in Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand and Vietnam.

Geology, time and weather quit the 35-foot- (10.67-meter-) wide, 40-foot- (12.19-meter-) deep cave temple, like its southerly neighbor, Ellora Buddhist Cave 3, of its exterior wall. Both caves reassure, with bodhisattva Padmapani (from Sanskrit बोधि, "enlightenment" and सत्त्व, "sentient being"; and पद्म, "lotus" and पाणि, "bearer") carvings, resident traders against perilous realities. Sculpted Padmapani and prayer beads from soapberry seeds perhaps strengthened traders sojourning through wild India against perilous demons, elephants, enslavers, fires, floods, highwaymen, lions and snakes.

Traders trekking through wild Maharashtra and its eight threats trusted in Buddha and Padmapani talismans in Ellora Buddhist Cave 4 and prayer beads of soapberry seeds.

Indian soapberry (Sapindus mukorossi) fruits contain one to three edible seeds; native to west-central India's Maharashtra state, soapberries, which are known locally as reetha, are used for Buddhist prayer beads (mala): Miansari 66, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

"Padmapani in Cave IV" attended by female with rosary (lower left) and female with flower bud (lower right); sketch by Scottish archaeologist James Burgess (Aug. 14, 1832-Oct. 3, 1916), Report on the Elura Cave Temples (1883), Plate XVI: via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.1544/page/n131/mode/1up

"About Ellora Caves." Yatra > Monuments of India > Monuments in Aurangabad. Copyrighted 2019.
Available @ https://www.yatra.com/indian-monuments/aurangabad/ellora-caves

Ajay Kulkarni @kulkey2015. 8 May 2019. "Ellora Caves, 6-8th cent, India a world heritage Always a different experience to witness the symphony of art, architecture, nature brought together by Summer high contrast light. Built during early kalachuries, rashtrakutas and Buddhist period. My recent visit to cave 19." Twitter.
Available @ https://twitter.com/kulkey2015/status/1125979081911128064

Anh-Huong, Nguyen; and Thich Nhat Hanh. 2019. Walking Meditation. Boulder CO: Sounds True.

Barrett, Douglas. "Wall Painting (Second to Sixteenth Century)." Pages 17-48. In: Douglas Barrett and Basil Gray. Paintings of India. Treasures of Asia. Distributed in the United States by The World Publishing Company, Cleveland OH. Geneva, Switzerland: Editions d'Art Albert Skira, 1963. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. 7 March 2019. "Ellora Caves." Encyclopædia Britannica > Geography & Travel > Historical Places. Chicago IL: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Available @ https://www.britannica.com/place/Ellora-Caves

Berkson, Carmel. Ellora Concept and Style. First Edition, 1992. Second Edition, 2004. New Delhi, India: Abhinav Publications.
Available via Google Books @ https://books.google.com/books/about/Ellora_Concept_and_Style.html?id=tH7KRNqIin4C

Burgess, Jas. (James). Report on the Elura Cave Temples and the Brahmanical and Jain Caves of Western India. The Results of the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Seasons' Operations of the Archaeological Survey 1877-78, 1878-79, 1879-80. Supplementary to the Volume on "The Cave Temples of India." London [UK]: Trübner & Co., 1883.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.1544/page/n5/mode/1up

Cartwright, Mark. 8 March 2016. "Ellora Caves." Ancient History Encyclopedia > Article.
Available @ https://www.ancient.eu/article/874/ellora-caves/

Cook, Sharell. Updated June 3, 2019. "Ajanta and Ellora Caves Essential Travel Guide." TripSavvy > Destinations > India > Maharashtra.
Available @ https://www.tripsavvy.com/ajanta-and-ellora-caves-travel-guide-1539340

Durdin-Robertson, Lawrence. 1976. The Goddesses of India, Tibet, China and Japan. With illustrations by Anna Durdin-Robertson. Huntington Castle, Clonegal, Enniscorthy, Eire: Cesara Publications.
Available @ http://www.fellowshipofisis.com/ldr_india_tibet_china_japan.pdf

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. 7 March 2019. "Ellora Caves." Encyclopædia Britannica > Geography & Travel > Historical Places. Chicago IL: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Available @ https://www.britannica.com/place/Ellora-Caves

"Elapura, aka: Elpāra; 6 Definition(s)." Wisdom Library.
Available @ https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/elapura

"Ellora." Exotic Journeys International > India City Details.
Available @ http://www.ejiusa.com/india_city_details/Ellora.html

"Ellora Caves." Atlas Obscura > Places > Verul, India. Copyrighted 2020.
Available @ https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/ellora-caves

"Ellora Caves." UNESCO > Culture > World Heritage Centre > The List > World Heritage List.
Available @ https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/243/

Fergusson, James; and James Burgess. 1880. The Cave Temples of India. London [United Kingdom]: W.H. Allen @ Co., Trübner & Co. E. Stanford and W. Briggs.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/cavetemplesofind00ferguoft

Huntington, John C.; and Dina Bangdel. "Glossary M-Y." The Circle of Bliss: Buddhist Meditational Art.
Available @ https://huntingtonarchive.org/resources/downloads/COBGlossaryM-Y.pdf

"Interview with Shrikant Ganvir, Pune, January 2016." Sahapedia > Ellora Caves > Buddhist Caves of Ellora. Published 9 November 2016.
Available @ https://www.sahapedia.org/buddhist-caves-of-ellora

Ions, Veronica. 1967. Indian Mythology. London UK: Paul Hamlyn Limited.

Kannal, Deepak. 25 September 2017. "A Riddle Called Ellora." Sahapedia > Overview.
Available @ https://www.sahapedia.org/riddle-called-ellora

Lee, Eva. 17 February 2014. "Ellora Caves: Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain Coexistence." Eva Lee Studio.
Available @ http://www.evaleestudio.com/2014/02/12/ellora-caves-buddhist-hindu-and-jain-coexistence/

Malandra, Geri H. 1993. Unfolding a Mandala: The Buddhist Cave Temples at Ellora. Albany NY: State University of New York Press.
Available via Google Books @ https://books.google.com/books?id=MU44LPu3mbUC

Marriner, Derdriu. 25 September 2020. "Ellora Buddhist Cave 3 Arranges Eight Perils for Bodhisattva Padmapani." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/09/ellora-buddhist-cave-3-arranges-eight.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 18 September 2020. "Vidyadhara Demigods Assure Ellora Buddhist Cave 2 of Joyful Goodness." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/09/vidyadhara-demigods-assure-ellora.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 11 September 2020. "Ellora Buddhist Cave 1 Ages Attractively as a Cavern Temple Monastery." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/09/ellora-buddhist-cave-1-ages.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 4 September 2020. "Ellora Buddhist Cave 5 Adds the Most Area to Ellora Buddhist Caves." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/09/ellora-buddhist-cave-5-adds-most-area.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 28 August 2020. "Ellora Buddhist Cave 6 Augurs Auspiciousness With its Makara Torana." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/08/ellora-buddhist-cave-6-augurs.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 21 August 2020. "Ellora Buddhist Caves Abound With Ancient Aspects of Tantric Buddhism." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/08/ellora-buddhist-caves-abound-with.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 14 August 2020. "Ellora Hindu Cave 16 Appears as Mount Kailasa But Appeals to Saraswati." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/08/ellora-hindu-cave-16-appears-as-mount.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 7 August 2020. "Ellora Hindu Cave 15 a Lion, a Name and Demon King Hiranyakasipu." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/08/ellora-hindu-cave-15-admits-lion-name.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 31 July 2020. "Ellora Hindu Cave 14 Adds up to a King, a Name and Demonic Adventures." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/07/ellora-hindu-cave-14-adds-up-to-king.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 24 July 2020. "Ellora Hindu Cave 13 Perhaps Acted as Abode of Ganesha and Wayfarers." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/07/ellora-hindu-cave-13-perhaps-acted-as.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 17 July 2020. "Ellora Hindu Cave 25 Artisans Adorned Its Ceiling With Sun God Surya." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/07/ellora-hindu-cave-25-artisans-adorned.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 10 July 2020. "Ellora Hindu Cave 24 Aids Artists, Scientists Analyzing Water Features." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/07/ellora-hindu-cave-24-aids-artists.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 3 July 2020. "Ellora Hindu Cave 23 Accepts Shiva as Fertility God and as Trimurti." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/07/ellora-hindu-cave-23-accepts-shiva-as.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 26 June 2020. "Ellora Hindu Cave 22 Allows a Fertility Bull and a Fertility God." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/06/ellora-hindu-cave-22-allows-fertility.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 19 June 2020. "Ellora Hindu Cave 18 Appeals to Hearth and Sacrificial Fire God Agni." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/06/ellora-hindu-cave-18-appeals-to-hearth.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 12 June 2020. "Ellora Hindu Cave 17 Appreciates Gandharva Celestial Spirits and Shiva." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/06/ellora-hindu-cave-17-appreciates.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 5 June 2020. "Ellora Hindu Cave 26 Perhaps Asks for Auspicious Aid to Traders." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Availabled @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/06/ellora-hindu-cave-26-perhaps-asks-for.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 29 May 2020. "Ellora Hindu Cave 20 Adds the Last Adventure of Buffalo Demon Mahisha." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/05/ellora-hindu-cave-20-adds-last.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 22 May 2020. "Ellora Hindu Cave 21 Acclaims Shiva and Alludes to Jumna and Krishna." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/05/ellora-hindu-cave-21-acclaims-shiva-and.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 May 2020. "Ellora Hindu Cave 29 Assumes That Parvati and Shiva Adore One Another." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/05/ellora-hindu-cave-29-assumes-that.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 8 May 2020. "Ellora Hindu Cave 19 Appears Third Most Ancient Among Ellora Caves." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/05/ellora-hindu-cave-19-appears-third-most.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 1 May 2020. "Ellora Hindu Cave 27 Appears Second Most Ancient Among Ellora Caves." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/05/ellora-hindu-cave-27-appears-second.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 24 April 2020. "Ellora Hindu Cave 28 Accesses Waterfall Rainbows Over Ellora Caves." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/04/ellora-hindu-cave-28-accesses-waterfall.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 17 April 2020. "Ellora Caves Are Arranged as Buddhist, Hindu and Jain Cave Temples." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/04/ellora-caves-are-arranged-as-buddhist.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 10 April 2020. "Are Indian Ring-Necked Rose-Ringed Parakeets Still at Ellora Caves?" Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/04/are-indian-ring-necked-rose-ringed.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 3 April 2020. "Indian Three-Striped Palm Squirrels Augur the Hindu Ellora Caves." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/04/indian-three-striped-palm-squirrels.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 27 March 2020. "Ellora Caves Accept Walking Meditations Advocated by Thich Nhat Hanh." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/03/ellora-caves-accept-walking-meditations.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 20 March 2020. "Ellora Caves Ally With Ajanta Caves and Thich Nhat Hanh in Indra's Net." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/03/ellora-caves-ally-with-ajanta-caves-and.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 March 2020. "Ellora Caves Are Painted, Sculpted Temples Like and Unlike Ajanta Caves." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/03/ellora-caves-are-painted-sculpted.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 6 March 2020. "Ailing Ellora Caves Are Among Ameliorable World Heritage Centre Sites." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/03/ailing-ellora-caves-are-among.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 28 February 2020. "Schneider's Leaf-Nosed Bats Are Artful Annihilators at Ellora Caves." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/02/schneiders-leaf-nosed-bats-are-artful.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 21 February 2020. "Greater Indian False Vampire Bats Are Artful Assassins at Ellora Caves." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/02/greater-indian-false-vampire-bats-are.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 14 February 2020. "Are Grey Junglefowl Avoiding Artful Areas Around Ellora Caves? Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/02/are-grey-junglefowl-avoiding-artful.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 7 February 2020. "Blue Indian Peafowl No Longer Prettify the Artistic Ellora Caves." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/02/blue-indian-peafowl-no-longer-prettify.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 31 January 2020. "Ellora Caves Sanctuary Gardens Artfully Adjoin Ellora Caves Artistry." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/01/ellora-caves-sanctuary-gardens-artfully.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 24 January 2020. "Ellora Caves Teak Forest Trees Anchor Ellora Caves Rain Gardens." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/01/ellora-caves-teak-forest-trees-anchor.html

Narayana, Hari. 25 November 2012. "The Ellora Caves - An Introduction." India That Was: A Legacy Unfolded.
Available @ http://indiathatwas.com/2012/11/the-ellora-caves-an-introduction/

Owen, Lisa N. 2012. Carving Devotion in the Jain Caves at Ellora. Leiden, The Netherlands; and Boston MA: Brill.
Available via Google Books @ https://books.google.com/books?id=vHK2WE8xAzYC

Pereira, José. 1977. Monolithic Jinas: The Iconography of the Jain Temples of Ellora. Delhi, Varanasi and Patna, India: Motilal Banarsidass.
Available via Google Books @ https://books.google.com/books/about/Monolithic_Jinas.html?id=LMTgiygj4-oC

Poduval, Jayaram. 21 November 2018. "The Architecture of Ellora Caves." Sahapedia > Article.
Available @ https://www.sahapedia.org/the-architecture-of-ellora-caves

Rawson, Philip. "Eastern Art." Pages 256-299. In: David Piper. The Illustrated History of Art. London, England: Chancellor Press (Bounty Books), 2000.

Revire, Nicolas. 2011. "Some Reconsiderations of Pendant-Legged Buddha Images in the Dvāravatī Artistic Tradition." Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association 31: 37-49.
Available via Academia @ https://www.academia.edu/5735422/Some_Reconsiderations_on_Pendant-Legged_Buddha_Images_in_the_Dv%C4%81ravat%C4%AB_Artistic_Tradition

Singh, Rajesh Kumar. 26 November 2019. "Obituary: Walter M. Spink (Feb 16, 1928 - Nov 24, 2019)." Caves of India > Walter Spink.
Available @ https://cavesofindia.org/2019/11/26/prof-spink/

Spink, Walter M. 1967. Ajanta to Ellora. Mumbai, India: Marg Publications.

Spink, Walter M. 1967. "Ellora's Earliest Phase." Off Print of the Bulletin of the American Academy of Benares 1: 11-22.

"Tibetan + Sanskrit Words." Madhyamaka Introduction to the Middle Way > Study.
Available @ https://madhyamaka.com/study/tibetan-sanskrit/

Earth and Space News

Friday, October 2, 2020

Ellora Buddhist Cave 4 Adds Soapberry Seeds as Buddhist Prayer Beads

No comments:

Post a Comment