My first trip to Vaishnodevi was unimpressive. Climbing was hard, and it only served to highlight how badly out of shape I was, while my in-laws managed to cope so much better. Further, I hadn’t quite realized that the cave experience wouldn’t be the same as I had imagined, since the original cave was only opened at certain times a year, and that we only entered a newly created tunnel, one far easier to access, and hence more manageable with the crowds that thronged the mountain shrine. The resulting experience at the shrine, for barely a fraction of a second, hardly compared to what I had expected / imagined / heard about. So, for me, Vaishnodevi was like any other temple, nothing to write home about, something that was reflected (though not explicitly mentioned) in the blog post I wrote then.
He is
over 8 feet tall,
and simply seems to take up all the space! We were, to be honest, rather
startled, when we first set eyes on him. The reason though, was not his size,
but the fact that he seemed to be made up of faces! Wondering what I am talking
about? Here, let me show you….
At
first glance,
he appears grotesque, but he gets more and more interesting as we take a closer
look, and realize, that he isn’t just made up of faces. The entire statue is
made up of animal and human figures, a thought grotesque in the extreme, but a
result surprisingly intricate and awe inspiring….
His
head has two serpents coiled around, his eyes are frogs, their mouths open, holding eggs as
eyeballs. His nose is a lizard, whose legs form his eyebrows; his moustaches
are fishes; his mouth is a crab, and his ears are doves!
His
neck is another snake, and his shoulder has birds on them, one looks like an owl, while the
other seems to have succumbed to weathering. The hands are the legs of
elephants, and his fingers, once again, snakes. His chest, stomach, and thighs
are all human faces – interestingly, the upper ones seem to be males while the
lower are females! His feet and legs are tigers, and yet another snake rises
its hood near his feet, as if it formed his cloak!
He is
incredibly interesting, but who is he? We were told that he was Rudra Shiva, from the temple
of Tala in Chhatisgarh (the figure here is a replica), but he doesn’t seem to
be mentioned in the scriptures, at least the ones we know of. It is evident
that he is incredibly ancient, and, according to the ASI, he dates back to the
6th century! He is believed to predate Hinduism as we know it, a
combination of Aghora and Rudra worship, more common in tribal societies.
This was
my first visit to Chhattisgarh, and I travelled to Raipur and Sirpur, to attend the Sirpur Music and
Dance festival, on an invite from the Chhattisgarh Tourism Board. There was
much I saw and appreciated, but this sculpture - the first one I saw on my visit - is one which has made a lasting impression – and above all, has made me curious
about Chhattisgarh and its history. I now have a deep and burning desire to
visit Tala and see the original sculpture!
Have
you seen anything like this before? If you have, please do write in and enlighten me!
P.S. For more detailed information, read this post by Saurabh, on Puratattva.in
Fantastic Anu! How do you manage to remember so much :) :) :)
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to more...
Thanks so much, Sid! we all remember what we love.... i cant imagine how you manage to go talk to so many people, remember their dreams and write it up!
DeleteThis is amazing!
ReplyDeleteThanks Usha!!
Deleteyou know I have to write or take notes.. else i will forget it all what i see sometimes ..
ReplyDeletethose are beautiful sculptures.. thank you for sharing
Bikram's
you are welcome, Bikram. I take notes too, at times where there is too much to see and remember... but some things just stay with me...
Deletewow........ great job Bhabhi !!!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you Priyanka! good to see you here :D
Delete