Earth and Space News: Ellora Caves Maharasthra

Showing posts with label Ellora Caves Maharasthra. Show all posts

Friday, December 11, 2020

Ellora Jain Cave 32 Adores Indra as Hindu Deity and Jain Bodyguard

Summary: Ellora Jain Cave 32 appreciates Hindu deity Indra, heavenly Hindu Mount Kailasa and great Jain thinkers in a Hindu cave temple adapted for Jain adorations.

looking outward from Ellora Jain Cave 32; Tuesday, Sep. 6, 2016: Anupamg, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons

Ellora Jain Cave 32 in Maharashtra state, western peninsular India, adapts divine Hindu Indra and heavenly Hindu Mountain Kailasa in a Hindu cave temple into a Jain cave temple with adorational carvings.

Ellora Jain Cave 32 bears the cave temple name Indra Sabha (from Sanskrit इण्ड्र, "raindrop-possessing" and सभा, "court") for Indra, Hindu storm god and Jain bodyguard. It copies the cave temple architecture of Ellora Hindu Cave 16, called the Kailasa (from Sanskrit कैलास, "crystal") temple cave, and of Ellora Jain Cave 30. Ceiling paintings and wall carvings defer to Tirthankara (from Sanskrit र्थंकर, "ford-maker") ascetics, great thinkers during downward and upward courses of the ever-revolving Jain timekeeping wheel.

Ellora Jain Cave 32 exhibits Tirthankara sculptures carved, painted and sculpted with Hindu mythological yaksha (from Sanskrit यक्ष, "ghost") and yakshini (from Sanskrit यक्षिणी, "[female] ghost").

Ellora Jain Cave 32 features the Hindu storm god Indra as king of the first Jain heaven and one of 64 reigning deities in the Jain heavens.

Vardhamana (599/539?-527/467? B.C.E., from Sanskrit वर्धमान, "prosperous") gave away his clothes when he gained enlightenment as the 24th Tirthankara Mahavira (from Sanskrit महावीर, "great hero, warrior"). The Digambara (from Sanskrit दिगम्बर, "unclothed") sect historically headed ritual devotions in Ellora Jain Cave 32 even though its devotees never heeded Indra as cloth-holding deity. The Swetambara (from Sanskrit श्वेत, "white" and अम्बर, "cloth") sect integrates Indra, who installed Mahavira within a white robe that inspires souly liberations, into enlightenment intervals.

A yaksha, night-time child of Hindu creator god Brahma (from Sanskrit ब्रह्म, "to grow"), joins Indra in ceiling and wall paintings in Ellora Jain Cave 32.

Indra kept a farmer from killing Mahavira as a cow thief when the latter's open-air meditations apparently kindled the former's cows grazing, leaving and re-entering fields.

Indra, who lived on Mount Meru (from Sanskrit मेरु, "center"), logged a first-place win in a race around Mount Kailasa, whose wings he subsequently lobbed off. The Ellora Hindu Caves itinerant artisans and monks made the fire god Shiva (from Sanskrit शिव, "auspicious"), who made Mount Kailasa his heavenly home, their main god. First Tirthankara Rishabadeva (from Sanskrit ऋषभ, "bull" and देव, "deity") and 11th Tirthankara Shreyansanatha (from Sanskrit श्रिया, "blissful" and नाथ, "lord") netted nirvana on Mount Kailasa.

Ellora Jain Cave 32 sculptures observe the fifth stage, after sadhu (साधु, "ascetic"), upadhyaya (उपाध्याय, "teacher"), acharya (आचर्य, "order head") and arhat (अर्हत्, "freed soul") stages.

Arhat stages prevent freed, omniscient souls pulling out of cyclical karmic, mortal rebirths until tirthankara and siddha (from Sanskrit सिद्ध, "accomplished") omniscient freed souls pull away forever.

Stone sculptures queue Rishabadeva, Neminatha (from Sanskrit नेमि, "rim"), Parshvanatha (from Sanskrit पार्श्व, "near") and Mahavira as first, 22nd, 23rd and 24th Tirthankara natha (नाथ) lords. Ellora Jain Cave 32 reveals Buddhist, Hindu and Jain references despite Ellora Buddhist, Hindu and Jain Caves retaining Buddhism and Hinduism, Hinduism, and Hinduism and Jainism. Its lotus-flower ceiling design and yakshini under a mango tree suggest Brahma's birth and Buddha's (from Sanskrit बुद्ध, "awakened") enlightenment and Upali's renouncing Jainism for Buddhism.

Ellora Jain Cave 32 teams Hindu temple and Jain sculptural traditions with perhaps uniquely Buddhist enlightenment, Hindu birth and Hindu to Jain to Buddhist conversion transmissions.

lotus-flower ceiling design in Ellora Jain Cave 32; Tuesday, Sep. 6, 2016: Anupamg, CC BY SA 4.0 International, 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:

looking outward from Ellora Jain Cave 32; Tuesday, Sep. 6, 2016: Anupamg, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ellora_Caves_60.jpg

lotus-flower ceiling design in Ellora Jain Cave 32; Tuesday, Sep. 6, 2016: Anupamg, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ellora_Caves_65.jpg

For further information:

"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.

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. 4 December 2020. "Ellora Jain Cave 31 Appears Adoring, Ancient, Ascetic and Unfinished." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/12/ellora-jain-cave-31-appears-adoring.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 27 November 2020. "Ellora Jain Cave 30 Applies Hindu Mythology to Meditative Asceticism." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/11/ellora-jain-cave-30-applies-hindu.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 20 November 2020. "Ellora Jain Caves 30 to 34 Appear More Hindu and Jain Than Buddhist." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/07/ellora-jain-caves-30-to-34-appear-more.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 November 2020. "Ellora Buddhist Cave 12 Arranges Heaven Above and Hell Below Meru." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/11/ellora-buddhist-cave-12-arranges-heaven.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 6 November 2020. "Ellora Buddhist Cave 11 Answers to the Name Do Taal and to Vajrapani." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/11/ellora-buddhist-cave-11-answers-to-name.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 30 October 2020. "Ashtamahabhaya Tara Averts Ellora Buddhist Cave 9 Adversity." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/10/ashtamahabhaya-tara-averts-ellora.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 23 October 2020. "Ellora Buddhist Cave 10 Allowed Meditators, Nicknames and Stayovers." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/10/ellora-buddhist-cave-10-allowed.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 16 October 2020. "Ellora Buddhist Cave 8 Perhaps Assuages All Poisons Through Mahamayuri." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/10/ellora-buddhist-cave-8-perhaps-assuages.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 9 October 2020. "Ellora Buddhist Cave 7 Appears Ample, Not Accomplished or Adorned as 8." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/10/ellora-buddhist-cave-7-appears-ample.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 2 October 2020. "Ellora Buddhist Cave 4 Adds Soapberry Seeds as Buddhist Prayer Beads." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/10/ellora-buddhist-cave-4-adds-soapberry.html

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/

Friday, July 24, 2020

Ellora Hindu Cave 13 Perhaps Acted as Abode of Ganesha and Wayfarers

Summary: Ellora Hindu Cave 13 in Maharashtra, India, perhaps accommodated pilgrim merchants, monks and traders whom the deity Ganesha accepted as god of wayfarers.

Vicinity of Ellora Hindu Cave 13 (center left of treee) provides visitors with restful view; Saturday, Aug. 3, 2013, 16:59: Udaykumar PR, CC BY 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Ellora Hindu Cave 13 in Maharashtra state, western peninsular India, perhaps acknowledged the deity Ganesha as the Hindu god of all wayfarers by accommodating pilgrim merchants, monks and traders through overnight arrangements.

The thirteenth cave from the southern entrance to the 1.24-mile- (2-kilometer-) long basalt cliff bearing Buddhist, Hindu and Jain cave temples perhaps boarded Shaivite Hindu believers. Ganesha (from Sanskrit गाणेश, "songmaster"), child of Shiva and Parvati, communicates cogent courses of action for conquering personal and professional chaos and correct choices at crossroads. Perhaps itinerant artisans under Rashtrakuta (from Sanskrit राष्ट्रकूट, "country chieftain") dynasts (753-982 C.E.) designed a rest destination for Hindu devotees desirous of more than one-day devotions.

Cave exteriors sometimes expose the exact employment of cave interiors even as the exterior wall of the first of 17 Ellora Hindu Caves no longer exists.

Shaivite (from Sanskrit शिव, "auspicious") Hindu (from Sanskrit सिन्धु, "stream") artisans, merchants, monks and traders perhaps filled Ellora Hindu Cave 13, whose patron fathered their patron.

The fertility and storm god of worlds destroyed between worlds recreated and his consort Parvati (from Sanskrit पर्वति, "stone") generated an epic-writing, obstacle-removing, path-finding, scripture-savvy god. Honoring Ganesha after other deities or not at all before heading out for personal and professional happenings always heralds harm, hindrances and horrors, never healthy happiness. An ignoble instance involves rakshasa (from Sanskrit राक्षस, "demoniacal") King Ravana (from Sanskrit रवण, "roaring") inveigling consort Parvati and fertility icon from Shiva without invoking Ganesha.

Vishnu (from Sanskrit विष्णु, "all-pervasive"), god of world preservation, joined with Ganesha so Ravana jettisoned the fertility icon in southern India and Parvati journeyed back home.

Ellora Hindu Cave 13 perhaps kept overnight, or longer, cave temple patrons and pilgrims whose kinetic lifestyles kindled knowing how, when, where, why to invoke Ganesha.

Elephant-headed, four-armed, yellow-skinned Ganesha, with one tusk and pot belly, perhaps looks not at all like the likeliest launch for living, or losing out on, life. His father made him mighty master of Ganadevata (from Sanskrit गणदेवता, "song deities") hosts on Mount Kailasa (from Sanskrit कैलास, "crystal") and personal and professional maneuvering. Twelve Adiya (from Sanskrit आदित्य, "solar") and 12 Sadhya (from Sanskrit साध्य, "accomplishable") Ganadevata hosts respectively nurture 12 annual solar phases and Vedic prayers and rites.

Visvadeva (from Sanskrit विश्वदेव, "all-pervading deities"), Vasu (from Sanskrit वसु, "sweet") and 49 Marut (from Sanskrit मरुत्, "breeze") deities respectively operationalize funeral offerings, natural phenomena and storms.

Ellora Hindu Cave 13 preserves no carved, painted, sculpted presence of the prepossessing progeny for whom Indra, Parvati, Shiva, perhaps Vishnu performed premier head transplant procedures.

Parvati's curse, sagely Kasyapa's (from Sanskrit कश्यप, "black-toothed") curse, Saturnian god Sani's (from Sanskrit शनि, "honor-giving") smoldering sight or Shiva's jealousy quit Ganesha of his head. Perhaps storm god Indra's (from Sanskrit इण्ड्र, "raindrop-possessing") elephant revived fruit-loving, rat-riding Ganesha, whose four hands retain club or goad, discus, shell and water-lily. Ganesha, not splendid war-god sibling Karttikeya (from Sanskrit कार्त्तिकेय, "Pleiades"), serves as spouse to stunning Buddhi (from Sanskrit बुद्धि, "perception") and Siddhi (from Sanskrit सिद्धि, "accomplishment").

Perhaps transient traders and tradesmen traipsed through Ellora Hi

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

Vicinity of Ellora Hindu Cave 13 (center left of treee) provides visitors with restful view; Saturday, Aug. 3, 2013, 16:59: Udaykumar PR, CC BY 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ellora_Caves,_Maharashtra_-_panoramio_(135).jpg; Udaykumar PR, CC BY 3.0 Unported, via Panoramio at Internet Archive Wayback Machine @ https://web.archive.org/web/20161028003952/http://www.panoramio.com/photo/94512847

Ellora Hindu Cave 13 (right), located to the right of Ellora Hindu Cave 14 (left), is thought to have sheltered wayfarers; Saturday, Aug. 3, 2013, 17:00: Udaykumar PR, CC BY 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ellora_Caves,_Maharashtra_-_panoramio_(134).jpg; Udaykumar PR, CC BY 3.0 Unported, via Panoramio at Internet Archive Wayback Machine @ https://web.archive.org/web/20161102214617/http://www.panoramio.com/photo/94512862

For further information:

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

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

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

"Cave 19." The Ellora Caves.
Available @ https://elloracaves.org/caves.php?cmd=search&words=&image_ID=&cave_ID=19&plan_floor=1