Samudra Manthan at Pattadakal

On the pillars and walls of Virupaksha Gudi at Pattadakal are sculptures depicting several legendary stories. One of the most interesting ones is the relief sculpture of Samudra Manthan or Amrit Manthan, the story of churning the ocean to obtain Amrit, the nectar of immortality.

The story goes like this: Durvasa Muni gives a sacred garland to Indra, the king of Devas. Indra carelessly places it on his elephant. The sacred garland falls to the ground and the elephant tramples it. Durvasa is enraged and curses Indra & Devas which leaves them weak and vulnerable to their archfoes the Asuras. Desperate to regain their power, the Devas approach Vishnu. The solution is obtain Amrit by churning the ocean of milk. The task of churning was impossible for Devas alone and it needed Asura's help. The Devas devise a plan, forming an alliance with the Asuras with a promise to share the reward equally.

For the act of churning Mount Mandara is used as the rod and Vasuki the serpent is the rope. Mandara is placed in the ocean, Vasuki is wound around Mandara, the Asuras hold the head side of Vasuki and Devas settle for tail side. As they pull back and forth, Mandara starts sinks because there's nothing to support it. To stop Mandara sinking, Vishnu takes the form of a tortoise and positions himself under Mandara. Vishnu assuming the tortoise form is known as Kurma Avatar, one of the Dashavatara. The churning is resumed. The outcome is Halahala the toxic precipitation. Shiva steps in and swallows Halalala and holds it in his throat making it blue giving him the name Neelakant. With the continued churning the following is obtained: Kamadhenu the wish fulfilling cow, Airavata the white elephant, Uchhaishravas the divine horse, Parijata the wishing tree and Lakshmi. In the end emerges Dhanavantri holding the pot of Amrit the nectar of immortality. That's as far as Samudra Manthan is concerned. What follows is the conflict around sharing Amrit. The wily Devas, with Vishnu's help hoodwink the Asuras which is a story for another day.

In the sculpture, the top section is an act of churning curds in a pot. I have no clue who the characters are. In the middle is Samudra Manthan, and the bottom section is Devas holding Vasuki's tail.

The neighboring column in the same temple has an illusionary sculpture. See the top section, you'll see three men standing closely. When you look at it intently you'll notice there are only four arms and four legs. It's a clever little sculpture, isn't it.

In the mid and bottom sections are battle scenes, archers shooting at each other. Again, I have no clue who these characters are. If you identify them, do share in the comments section.

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Ravananugraha

Of the dozen temples at Pattadakal, three of the temples have a hundred stories sculpted on their walls and columns. There's one stand-alone pillar which tells the story of Ravananugraha. The story goes like this: Ravana after defeating his half-brother Kubera, looted Kubera's city Alaka and also took Kubera's flying chariot Pushpaka Vimana. On his way back to Lanka, Ravana sees the beautiful mount Kailsa and tries to fly over it but fails. Nandi who's present there tells Ravana that no one can fly over Kailasa because it's Shiva & Parvati's abode. The proud Ravana mocks Nandi and Shiva. Nandi is enraged and curses Ravana that he would be destroyed by monkeys. The outraged Ravana, using his might of twenty arms, tried to uproot Kailasa. As the mountain begins to shake, Shiva knowing the reason, presses his big toe and traps Ravana with crushing force. Ravana realizes his folly, begs for mercy and prays to Shiva. Known for his forgiving nature, Shiva forgives Ravana and gifts him sword Chandrahasa. Coming back to this sculpture, since it shows favor to Ravana it's called Ravananugraha.

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