Ravana offering his heads

Ravana offering his nine heads to Shiva

Cave 16 (Kailasa) at Ellora.

Ravana, a great devotee of Shiva is doing severe penance to get 'Atma Linga' from Shiva so that his mother Kaikeshi could pray. Not getting any response initially from Shiva, Ravana cuts off his heads one by one. When he was about to offer the last head, Shiva appears and concedes his request.

Ravana's heads are supposed to represent his intimate knowledge of the six Shastras and the four Vedas.

Another belief is that the heads symbolize the ten senses and emotions viz. Kaama (lust) Krodha (anger) Moha (delusion) Lobha (greed) Mada (pride) Maatsarya (envy) Manas (the mind) Buddhi (intellect) Chitta (will), and Ahamkara (ego)

Other Ravana tales:

https://wordpress.com/post/stonestoriessite.wordpress.com/151
https://stonestoriessite.wordpress.com/2016/03/02/ravana-lifting-mount-kailash/

Ravana shaking Mount Kailash – Banteay Srei

Hanging Pillar - An architectural marvel

The highly talked about, but the least understood feature at Lepakshi is the hanging pillar. the main mandap has 70 pillars. One of them is unique.It appears to hang from the top as it does not rest on the floor. One can draw a paper or a piece of cloth under the pillar. The science behind  this architectural feature remains a mystery. A British official tried to study this column but only succeeded in dislodging it from the original, thus dangerously skewing the structure. Wisely, he abandoned any further invasive investigation. 

The hanging column of Lepakshi- an architectural mystery.

The pillar in Belur is also an architectural curiosity. It appears to be supported only on three sides. It is a stand-alone pillar and not part of a mandapam. 

Belur Pillar

Famous Murals of Lepakshi

The murals of the roof of the Lepakshi temple is another remarkable feature of this 700 year old Vijayanagara temple. Some of the scenes are reproduced here.

In Paravati's dressing room. Note the six attendants have  distinct hairdo and dresses.

Royals and staff offering prayers

Shiva as Bhikshatana murthy, the mendicant

Bhikshatana murthy at Kailasanatha temple, Kanchipuram. - the 7th Century CE Pallava temple .

Bhikshatanar - showing the enchanted rishi patnis and the enraged rishi. 

More in my earlier post: http://stonestories.blogspot.in/2015/08/bhikshatanar-and-annapoorni-at-lepakshi.html

Krishna at it again

Gopi Vastraaharan - Krishna stealing  the clothes of gopis. This pillar is from Sree parthasartathy Temple, Triplicane. For narration and other pictures from  Bhatkal, Karnataka and George Town, Chennai see: http://stonestories.blogspot.in/2011/09/vastraapaharan-krishna-and-gopis.html

At Sree Parthasarathy Temple, Thiruvallikkeni

There is another sculpture on the same theme at Sree Sundararaja Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram. See Bhusavali's blog 

Hanuman and the Crocodile

The temple of Sree Ranganatha at Srirangam is famous for it sculptures in the various locations. The Venugopalswamy shrine, the Sesharaya Mandapam, the Garuda mandapam, the gopurams all provide examples of the skills of the artisans.

This sculpture on a pillar in a small mandap near the pushkarani shows Hanuman coming out of  crocodile.

The story associated with this goes thus. Hanuman was on the way to bring Sanjivani to restore Lakshmana. Ravana sent a demon Kala Nemi (Ravana's uncle?) to stop Hanuman at any cost. Kalanemi assumed the guise of a sage and persuaded Hanuman to have a bath in a pond near the hill. On entering the water, Hanuman was swallowed by a huge crocodile. Hanuman, using his supernatural powers tore out the belly of the crocodile and emerged unscathed. The crocodile happened to be an apsaras who was cursed to take this form. 

There is much better  representation of the same theme in Sesharaya mandapam. You can see that in this blog by Vijaya Kumar. 

More Narasimha

One more Narsimha on a pillar at Sreerangam Temple.

See other Narasimhars:

  Thirukkurungudi

Yoga narasimha

Bantey srei, Cambodia

Melukote, Karnataka