Stories in Stone

The monuments and temples in India abound with exquisite sculptures based on the epics. This is a humble attempt to explain some of them.This is no scholarly work.I have only collected these from several sources- oral, printed and on-line. There can be no authentic version of such stories as there are many variations and interpretations . I have left out the complex explanations and debates to just give an overview of episodes depicted in stone. All photographs by (C) V.Harihara Subramanian.

Showing posts with label sacred. Show all posts

Friday, July 31, 2015

Naga Lingam at Lepakshi

The naga lingam is another imposing sculpture iIn the Lepakshi temple. A 7 hooded naga rises over the lingam behind the sanctum sanctorum. . The guide narrated an interesting story about the naga lingam. A young sculptor was hungry and asked his mother who was working in the kitchen just opposite the present lingam, when meals would be ready. She replied that it would take at least another hour. To pass time, the sculptor built this naga lingam in just one hour. The mother, coming out of the kitchen was astonished . Because of her ‘drishti’ the sculpture developed three cracks. Therefore, no formal puja is performed for this lingam.

The lingam is flanked by a panel of Saptha maathas.

Women offering puja to the Saptha mathas - Indrani, Kaumari, Vaishnavi,Maheswari, Brahmi Varahi, & Chamundi

The tip of the naga hood is visible from the nandi several metres away., in the outskirts of the town.

Thursday, July 30, 2015

Lepakshi Nandi

The nandi is situated about 200 meters from the main temple. The sixth praakaram originally extended upto the nandi. Now streets and town houses (and an APTDC guest house) intervene.

The Granite nandi measuring 8 M length and 6 M high is considered to be the largest Nandi in the world. The one in Thanjavur is second. Even among monoliths, it stands on top, second only to Gomateswara. I did a rough calculation of the mass of the bull. At 8x5x 2.5 (aprox) it should weigh at least 250 tonnes considering density of granite to be 2.5 T/ Cu.M

The crouching bull is facing the Naga linga at the temple and strikes a very natural and elegant pose. The garlands, kaasu malai and mani malai are remarkable for their exquisite finish.