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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serenely seated sculptures

These two photos were shot on Dec 16, 2011 at Pattadakal temple complex. These sculptures are situated on the upper part of either Virupaksha Gudi or Mallikarjuna Gudi, two of the larger structures at the complex. The first one, a four-armed figure seems like Shiva at the first glance. However, upon seeing closer, there's a Shankha in the rear left hand. The norm in our idols is Shiva holds a Trishula and has Rudrakashamala, while Vishnu is seen holding Shankha & Chakra. Coming back to this sculpture, I feel it is Harihara, the combined form of Vishnu and Shiva. What do you think.

Coming to the second picture, first I felt it could be Vishnu. A closer look revealed the third eye on his forehead. So this is Shiva. It appears that Shiva has pinned down a child like figure. It's known that Shiva crushes Apasmara, the character filled with negativity. Is it possible this too is a scene of Shiva crushing Apasmara?

A revisit to Pattadakal and Aihole is pending for almost two years now. When I go there again, I'll spend half a day at Pattadakal and inspect sculptures closely. I'm sure to discover some more gems.

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