The Prince of Wales lunching in the Caves of Elephanta

In October 1875, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert embarked on an extensive 8-month tour of the Indian subcontinent. In Mumbai, the royal party was entertained at the Elephanta Caves.

The Illustrated London News faithfully reported the entire trip to eager readers back home. They commissioned William Simpson, an artist and lithographer, to cover the entire visit. Simpson would send draft sketches, which would then be engraved in London and the pictures would appear with a four-week lag. For the sake of speed, Simpson would typically only draw in detail the main parts, and send notes and descriptions to help the engraver figure out the costumes etc. 

Today these pictures are somewhat disturbing examples of what Edward Said defined as "Orientalism" - the imagining of the East by the West, in which the imperial regime controlled the way the subjugated culture was perceived. One of the features of this Orientalism is the figurative embedding of the Prince of Wales within that imagined Orient, asserting a superior 'civilised' culture. "We deserve to rule these chaps", seems to be the message. 

Take a closer look. The Prince of Wales lunching in the Caves of Elephanta. Illustration for The Illustrated London News, 11 December 1875. Creator - Charles Robinson, English (1840–81). Artwork medium - engraving

Elephanta: Shiva as Kalyanasundara, the beautiful bridegroom

- by Deepa Krishnan

The rock art of Elephanta has a sublime beauty that speaks to people of all cultures. To me, it is even more appealing because it follows well-laid out rules for iconography, allowing me to find and exult in the little details.

Today I thought I'd write about Kalyana Sundara, Shiva as the sublimely beautiful bridegroom. This aspect of Siva - so different from his usual appearance as an ascetic - is a major motif in the rock art of Maharashtra, appearing both in Elephanta as well as Ellora. 

Wedding of Shiva-Parvati, Elephanta

Take a look at this larger-then-life panel from Elephanta. Through image size and composition, the sculptor has made it obvious that this is a story about a couple. Equally, it is clear that the male half of this couple - the hero of the sculpture, so to say - is someone very grand. Even if you don't know any legends, you can still easily guess that this is a divine or royal couple, and you feel awe and curiosity about who they are.

This beautiful sculpture has unfortunately been broken by vandals. We are told that Portuguese sailors/soldiers took potshots at the carvings, using them for target practice. If the piece had been unbroken, it would have been obvious that this is actually a wedding in progress - because this is the panigrahana moment, the moment in the wedding where the bridegroom takes the bride's hand in marriage (pani = hand, graha = to take). They stand united as a couple, his right hand holding her right hand. 

Here's a photo from the cave at Ellora, showing the panigrahana moment. You can see the depiction more clearly, because Ellora was spared the kind of vandalism seen in Elephanta.

Wedding of Shiva-Parvati, Ellora, Wikimedia Commons

But now - returning to Elephanta - take a closer look at the primary figure, Siva. At Elephanta, Siva is far more beautiful than the depiction at Ellora. See the graceful tilt of the head, the noble countenance, the elaborate head-dress, the sublime curve of the torso. The Divine Bridegroom is depicted as serene and resplendent on his wedding day. Standing next to him is his bride. See the modest downward bend of her graceful neck, the downcast eyes and the curved hips. She is the classical Indian beauty, personified and celebrated in stone. But frankly, he is more beautiful than her. It is in his figure, that all the lyrical energy of this sculpture is concentrated.

Closer look at Shiva-Parvati, Elephanta

I wanted to read more about the Kalyana Sundara, the beautiful bridegroom. So I looked up Encyclopedia of the Saivism by Swami Parmeshwaranand, for a description of the bridegroom. 

The Enclyopedia says that in the Matsya Purana, there is a section describing how all the gods assisted in adorning Siva for his wedding. The sun (Surya), the moon (Chandra) and fire (Agni) became the lights in his three eyes. Kubera the God of Wealth gave him a necklace of great gems (maharatnas), and Varuna the Sea God gave him a garland of unfading flowers. Chamunda, the fierce form of the goddess, gave him a kapalamala, a garland of skulls. Indra the King of Gods gave him an elephant skin to wear, and Vayu the Wind God decorated Siva's bull Nandi. 

When Siva was thus beautifully arrayed as Kalyana Sundara, the seven oceans formed a mirror in which he was pleased to see his own splendid form reflected. Can you imagine this? The great god, Siva Maheshwara as Kalyana Sundara, his beauty reflected in all the oceans of the world? What a powerful concept!

Apart from Siva and his bride Parvati, there are many supporting figures in a typical Kalyana Sundara panel. There are several scriptural texts (collectively called the Agamas), which lay down rules for the appearance of Siva, Parvati and these supporting figures.

In a typical Kalyana Sundara scene, there is a four-headed Brahma at the foot of the panel, usually depicted performing the homa (offering to the fire). Brahma is the priest at the wedding. There is Indra, depicted standing behind Brahma. The Brahma and Indra at Elephanta are very damaged. The one at Ellora (the right side of the panel below) gives us a better understanding.

There are usually two standing figures behind Parvati, who are giving away the bride. Likely to be Himavan, father of Parvati, and his wife. There is also a third male figure, carrying a kalasha, a pot. Check out his hair-style. It's like a judge's wig!

Now we come to the host of divine and semi-divine creatures that are witnessing the grand wedding event. They are shown flying in the sky, amidst clouds. 

The Agama texts suggest that there should be several different types of flying creatures depicted in a Kalyana Sundara scene:

• Vidyadharas - these are groups of supernatural beings, spirits of the air, often described as strewing flowers upon events happening below. 
• Yakshas -  nature-spirits, caretakers of things hidden under the earth
• Gandharvas - similar to a yaksha, usually male, usually accomplished musicians
• Astadikpalas - the guardians of the 8 directions
• Siddhas - men who have achieved enlightenment, or perhaps just acquired merit or powerful capabilities through sadhana (meditation, penance or prayer)
• Rishis - sages
• Matrikas - the mothers, a group of goddesses 
• Other gods and goddesses

Next time, I'll write about some of the other panels at Elephanta. Each one is very interesting. I hope you will take a closer look at the wedding of Shiva and Parvati the next time you go to Elephanta. I'm sure you'll discover small details that delight you.

Elephanta, Elephanta

It takes an hour by boat to get to Elephanta. Once on the island, you climb a set of 120 steps up the hill, to the cave that houses a fourteen hundred year old temple to Shiva.

There is something quite poetic about the idea of "crossing a sea, climbing a mountain, entering a cave" to see God. It is a journey across, upwards, and inwards, and the sculptures that await at the end are a magnificent reward.

First sighting of Elephanta island from boat

Shiva is such a paradoxical, puzzling God! In the first place, he is both male and female. He is angry and happy, forgiving and vengeful, creator and destroyer, an ascetic and a skilled lover. It doesn't make sense! Or perhaps it makes enormous sense, because we're all a bit like that?

In any case, Elephanta mirrors all of his contradictions with art that simply blows me away.

Trimurti Sadasiva - Five aspects of Shiva in one sculpture

Whew.

Mumbai is hot these days. For those of you who are planning to visit - my advice is, stay indoors in the afternoons. That means cold beer, long lunches, and of course, airconditioned shopping. By 4:30 p.m. the heat isn't quite so bad, and you can try walking through the heritage district, or the bazaars, or really, anything that takes your fancy.

If you're planning to go see Elephanta, there are two ways to do it - one is by taking the 2:00 p.m. boat. You'll get to the island at 3:00, when it starts to cool down a bit. There's a twenty minute uphill climb. Fortunately, it is a shady climb with lots of space to sit down and rest, and there are little shops all along the climb where you can browse and shop. Don't forget to take bottled water. You'll have until 4:30 to see the caves, before you need to come downhill. You can take the 5:00 p.m. boat back.

The other way is to take the first boat out at 9:00 a.m. before the crowds come in. That's what I did yesterday.

If you take the 9:00 a.m. boat, you'll be up the hill by ten thirty, and after an hour at the caves, you can come down and take the 12:00 noon boat. The boat ride is actually pretty nice, its cool and breezy in the lower deck.

This is me on the upper deck of the boat. It was sunny but not hot. I paid ten rupees extra for the upper deck (weird, you'd have thought the cool lower decks would be more expensive).

You can see the Gateway of India in the background. The tall building is the new wing of the Taj Mahal Hotel, it completely dwarfs the Gateway from some angles. To the left is the old heritage wing of the Taj Mahal Hotel. They are renovating/repairing the dome.

P.S. Check out my 'sensible' shoes.