Musafir

This west facing cave excavation is a pillared hall of 20.5 feet long, 8.5 feet wide and 10.5 feet high. It is supported, in front, by two lion-base pillars and two lion-base pilasters on the sides. It is one of the shrines where it is sculpted in detail and the ASI is doing a commendable job in protecting the relics. 

There is a closet in the middle and are guarded by dwarapalas As we do not see any dwarapala with trisula character (horned dwarapala), it can be assumed that this cave was dedicated to Vishnu.

One the Northern part of the Mantapa, has a bas relief of Varaha, one of the incarnations of Lord Vishnu, in a standing posture. He is carrying Bhudevi (Goddess Earth) in his hands. His one leg is firmly rested on the ocean ground while another is on the hood of Sesha-naga. He is shown with four hands, in upper hands he carries a chakra and shankha while right lower hand is behind the goddess and left lower hand is holding the legs of the goddess. Bhudevi is shown seated in his bent uplifted right knee. Shesha-naga is shown with five hoods, emerging from the waters with his hands folded in devotion. Brahma is shown standing beside Varaha and Narada behind him, holding a Veena. Over Brahama and Narada is shown Chandra coming out of clouds. Opposite corner shows Surya. There is a female standing with folded hands in front of Varaha and Sesha. The way the detail is depicted in this bas relief is extraordinary. And each of the figure is lifelike.

Next to the above relief is shown a relief of Gaja-Lakshmi. Lakshmi is shown seated on a lotus seat, her both hands is a position probably to hold lotus stalks. Her hair are put in a conical formation on the top. Four maidens are shown standing, two on  either side of Lakshmi. Two inner side maidens are shown holding water vessels, while the outer maidens are holding flowers in one hand. There are two elephants on the top, left one is shown pouring water from a vessel while the right one is shown picking the vessel from the hands of a maiden.

Southern end shows a bas relief of Trivikrama, Vishnu in Vamana incarnation. Vishnu is shown with one leg placed firmly on the ground and another lifted up to the level of his neck. This posture suggests that he has taken his two steps already and in that he has measured the earth and the heaven. He is shown with eight hands. In left hands he carries Shankha (conch), Khetaka (shield) and dhanush (bow), while one left hand is pointing to the direction of his lifted leg. In his right hands he carries chakra (discus), gada (club) and khadga (sword) while his one right hand is raised up with palms turned up. Brahma is shown seated on a lotus and shown washing the foot of Trivikrama. Shiva is also shown seated in padmasana with one hand raised in adoration. On left of Trivikrama, Shukracharya is shown seated facing king Bali and trying to move away from the impact of Trivikrama’s expansion impact. Demon King Bali, wearing a crown, is shown seated next to Shukracharya. He is shown with gloomy faces and amazed at the scene he is witnessing.

Next to this panel is a bas relief of Durga. She is shown standing on a lotus seat She is shown with four hands, in upper hands carrying shankha and chakra while one lower hand is resting on her waist and other lower hand is in abhaya mudra. Four ganas (goblins) are shown flying across the panel, two on either side of the goddess. Ganas on right side are carrying a bowl of offerings in their one hand. On top corners, left and right, are lion and antelope, both mounts of the goddess. There are two devotees shown seated near the feet of the goddess. Devotee on left side is shown cutting his head, holding it by his tuft by one hand, with a sword in his another hand. Right side devotee is seated with one hand raised in adoration and another rested on his thigh.

I spent almost 10 minutes in this small mantapa move on to visit the Dharmaraja Mantapa.

The Pancha Pandava Cave is connected to the Arjuna’s penance and it is a raw and unfinished structure in the inside. However, it is beautifully carved on the outside and lions are carved on the pillars. There is one interesting piece here. One of the pillars is not carved as you see in the picture.

This is the biggest excavation at the site measure 50 feet in length. A cell is cut in the centre but is attached to the back. Behind the front pillars, there is another row of pillars which divide the Cave in five sections but all the sections are unfinished. There is not much to see in this cave and i move ahead to see the Krishna’s Butterball.

This is a very interesting stone. Seen from a distance, it looks as if it is ready to roll down. However, it has a base which prevents from doing so and that we know only when we go nearer it. Otherwise, it not of much interest in terms of art. The area near this stone is very rocky with huge boulders and vegetation. We need to walk on these rocks, pass through a narrow opening between two boulders and reach the Trimurthi Cave Temple.

This cave temple is a little different from the others as it does not have a pillared hall. The artists have excavated the cells directly into the cave face which is almost vertical. This is a triple celled shrine dedicated to the Trinity, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. The central prominent cell is projected little forward, housing a Shiva image, which suggests that the cave was dedicated to Shiva as the main deity among the trinity. All the cells are flanked with dwarpalas on either sides.

The first cell i said to be that of Brahma. However, the sculpture inside has only one head and is wearing a cross-band on its chest, which cannot be Brahma. Some historians believe it to be of Subramanya. There is an old inscription on the floor of this cell mentioning the name Mamalla, suggesting the name of Narasimhavarman I,  in whose time this cave was commissioned.

There are two goblins on the top, on either side of Subramanya, one on left is holding a flag-post while having a pustaka in his arm-pit while that on right is shown holding a bowl of offerings. There are two devotees sitting on ground, with one hand raised in adoration and another placed on their chests.

The central shrine is a little projected to the front compared to the others. Inside the cell is an image of Shiva in a standing posture. He is shown with four arms, in his upper hand he is holding a axe and rosary of beads and his one lower hand is in abhaya mudra and another resting on his thigh. Two goblins on top are shown with one hand raised in adoration and another on their bent knees. Two devotes are  shown below, one squatting on the ground and holding a flower in one hand and other hand on his knee, while the other one is shown holding flowers in both the hands in anjali mudra. There is a lingam inserted into the base, however this is a later addition.

The rightmost cell is dedicated to Vishnu. The dvarpalas are shown in side-views, wearing kirita mukutas and yajnopavita. Inside the cell is an image of Vishnu, in standing posture. He is shown with four hands, in upper hands holding a sankha and chakra while one lower hand is in abhaya and another is resting on his thigh. Two goblins are shown on top with one hand raised in adoration. Below are shown two devotees, bent in similar fashion in adoration to the Lord.

There is a niche on southern most part of the rock where an image of Durga is carved. Durga is shown standing over a buffalo-head, representing demon Mahishasura. She is shown with eight hands, in her right hands she holds chakra (discus), khadga (sword) and ghanta (bell) while in her left hands she holds shankha (conch), dhanush(bow) and khetka (shield). Her remaining one left hand is in abhaya mudra and one right hand is on her thigh.

There is one more small temple near this Mantapa which is dedicated to Lord Ganesha. The architecture of this temple is good on its top it has a small sanctum with small pillars on its front end.  Lions are carved on the pillars. I then move on to the famous Varaha Mantapa.

Mahabalipuram, derived from 'Mamallapuram' was a 7^th century port city of the South Indian dynasty of the Pallavas around 60 km south from the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu. It has been identified as the port Melange mentioned in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea by an unknown Greek navigator of the first century A.D. The name Mamallapuram is believed to have been given after the Pallava king Narasimhavarman I, who took on the epithet Maha-malla (great wrestler). It has various historic monuments built largely between the 7^th and the 9^th centuries, and has been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

Mahabalipuram is seen as the workshop of Indian sculptures where they experimented with various temple and architectural styles, hence this place has a very important place in study of Indian architecture. Here we find examples of various temple types, be it monoliths or rock-cut shrines. We can categorize the monuments in four different categories:

1. Rock-cut shrines – In this style, a rock face is excavated to make place for temple elements like sanctum, mantapa etc.
2. Monolith structures – Locally called as ‘Rathas’, these are free-standing temples  cut out of a solid rock
3. Bas-relief – These kind of reliefs are only found in Mahabalipuram, where a rock-face is carved extensively with figures and other plastic art elements usually depicting some mythological scene
4. Structural Temples – These are built-up masonry temples

Let us visit each of the places and talk about them. 

The first monument we visit is the Krishna Mantapa. Even though it is called a Mantapa, it is actually a bas-relief of the dedicated to Lord Krishna and some of his stories. The most notable sculpture inside is the lifting of of the Govardhana mountain. The Mantapa was evidently added later in the 16th century. The central figure of Krishna, with Balarama by his side, is shown lifting the hill with his little finger. Enjoying the divine protection, the rest are carrying on their business as usual. The artist suggests this by depicting a cowherd milking a cow while the cow itself is fondly licking its calf.

On the left corner of the relief are shown few animals, mostly lions. One lioness is shown in her cave, above these lions. One lion of interest as it is carved with body of a lion but head of a human. A representation of Narasimha? or this is ‘man/king among lions’ a title, ‘Rajasimha,’ taken up by a Pallava king, Narasimhavarman II. In my understanding, this cannot be taken as a representation of Narasimha, an incarnation of Vishnu. However ‘man/king among lions’ quite fits here. Does that mean Rajasimha was the creator of this relief?

Each figure on this bas-relief is well carved and looks as if they are alive. The cows especially are carved so beautifully even taking care of the small curves. I spent almost 15 minutes inside this small Mantapa and moved on to one of the most wonderful monuments in Mahabalipuram, the Arjuna’s penance.