1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 16L 16T 16ab 16s 17 18 19 20a 20b 21 22 23 24 24a1 24a2 25 26 27 28 29 30 30a 31 32 32y 33 34 g1,2,3,4,5 g6,7 g8,9,10,11,12 g13,14,15,16 g17,18,19 j1,2 j3,4
Ellora Cave Temples



Durga (right wall)

The emphasis on feminine focus is amplified in this cave by the large images of Durga at either end of the front aisle. Durga rests her foot upon her lion, and holds her trident at the ready in the left end relief, while in the right, with the help of the furious beast, she prepares to slay the demonic buffalo. Indeed, there is every reason to believe that the cave was originally dedicated to Durga herself, since the socket of the pitha in the shrine was not shaped to receive a lingam; it seems certain that it must once have held the fine broken image of the goddess, now missing. Also of particular significance is the small panel showing Durga--which appears as part of an unfinished frieze composed largely of active dwarfs--slaying the buffalo at the center of the beam directly above the two rear central hall pillars; such a positioning--like that of Lakulisa in Caves 19 and 21--clearly connects the cave with the image shown, and it is scarcely an accident that both the broken image once in the shrine and the crucially placed image at the rear of the hall show the actual defeat of the demon, thus completing the "narrative" sequence started in the front aisle. One can further note another small figure at the very center of the similar frieze on the beam above the pillar on the right side of the hall. Although hard to see, this is surely another Durga, flanked by a similar series of empaneled dwarfs and flowers. It can be safely assumed that, had the whole been completed, there would have been another Durga image at the left too.

4402 (c14-14b.jpg)










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