The Elephanta Caves - Gharapuri

Introduction:
According to French art historian, Rene Grousset (1885-1952) who speaks of the Trimurti statue at Elephanta Caves: 

"Universal art has succeeded in few materialization of the Divine as powerful and also as balanced. He believed that it is "the greatest representation of the pantheistic god created by the hands of man." He concludes with poetic enthusiasm: "Never have the overflowing sap of life, the pride of force superior to everything, the secret intoxication of the inner god of things been so serenely expressed." 

(source: The India I Love - By Marie-Simone Renou p. 88-93).

Located on an island off Mumbai's eastern shore, the 6th century AD Elephanta cave temples, chiselled into a rocky cliff and dedicated to Shiva, contain some great masterpieces of Indian sculpture. Originally called Gharapuri or "Fort-city", the island was renamed by the Portuguese after a huge stone elephant that once stood there. This is now in the garden of the Bhau Daji Lad Museum in Mumbai's Byculla area. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Elephanta cave temples can be visited on a day trip from Mumbai.
Frijof Capra (1939- ) the famous theoretical high-energy physicist has observed:

" A superb sculpture of Shiva in the Hindu temple of Elephanta shows three faces of the god.....in the center the sublime union, of the two aspects in the magnificent head of Shiva Maheshvara, the Great Lord, radiating serene tranquility and transcendental aloofness. In the same temple, Shiva is also represented in androgynous form – half male, half female – the flowing movement of the god’s body and the serene detachment of his/her face symbolizing, again, the dynamic unification of the male and female."

(source: The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels Between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism - By Fritjof Capra p. 148-149). For more refer to chapter on Hindu Art
Maheshmurti

This is the glory of Elephanta, and few visitors can fail to be moved by this powerful, compelling image hailed by art historian Percy Brown as "the creation of a genius". The three faces represent Shiva in his different manifestations. The central face with its towering, elaborate crown depicts Shiva the Preserver, sublimely serene and introspective. The one facing west represents Shiva the Creator, gentle, solicitous and graceful. The head facing east, with its cruel mouth, fiercely hooked nose and serpents adorning the hair, shows Shiva the Destroyer. On either side of the statue are other superb sculptures.

The one on the east shows Shiva as Ardhanarishvara - the Lord who is Both Male and Female, and thus symbolizes the Divine Unity in which all opposites are resolved. The image on the west is of Shiva as Gangahara, helping the river goddess Ganga descend to earth while his consort Parvati and other deities look on. Contrasting images of peace and violence, joy and fury, can be seen in exquisite sculptures throughout the temple. Thus one sculpture near the Western Entrance lyrically depicts the marriage of Shiva and Parvati, while opposite it is a powerful panel showing Shiva brutally imapling the demon Andhaka. The Eastern Entrance has Shiva and Parvati contentedly playing dice in their mountain abode, as the demon-king Ravana tries to shake their mountain home in Kailash.

(source: India - DK Eyewitness Travel Guides London p. 461).

Joao do Castro, a remarkable man and Renaissance personality with wide ranging interests and accomplishments.

Castro's navigational diary Roteiro de Goa ate Dio reflects a deep feeling of wonder on his part at the sight of the huge and magnificent temple at Elephanta, for he was thoroughly overwhelmed by the great 'boldness' of manner in which the whole edifice was hewn out of the hard, solid rock.

A work of such magnitude and artifice, he declared could not have been produced by mortals and it must be regarded as one of the wonders of the world. Castro was so impressed by the sculptures that he stated that 'Indeed the proportions and symmetry with which each figure and everything else is made it would be worth the while of any painter to study it even if he were Apelles.'

Diego do Couto, the Portuguese historian noted:

"It is constucted at the foot of a great Hill of Stone of light grey color; there is a beautiful Hall at its entrance, and in the yard that leads to the front back door, there are two human figures engraved on the same stone, twice as big as the Giants exhibited on the Procession of the Corpus Christi feast in Lisbon, so beautiful, elegant, and so well executed, that even in Silver they could not be better wrought and made with such perfection."

The conclusion he reached 'may certainly be reckoned one of the wonders - and perhaps the greatest in the world." He took elaborate measurements of the 'remarkable' and 'stupendous' temple, remarking that it was laid on a north-to-south axis. About the sculptures he made the general remark that 'not only the figures looked very beautiful, but the features and workmanship could be very distinctly perceived, so that neither in silver or wax could such figures be engraved with greater nicety, fineness or perfection."

The elaborate plastic treatment of Siva's matted hair with beautiful jewels set in it especially fascinated Couto who mentioned it admiringly on several occasions. His most important contribution was to leave an account of the great Maheshmurti group, generally regarded as the highest achievement of the Kalacuri period:

"From the pavement of this chapel issued a body from the waist upwards of so enormous size, that it fills the whole vacuum in length and breath of the chapel: it has three large faces, the middle one looks to the north, the second to the west, and other to the east. Each of these faces has two hands, and on the neck two large necklaces, wrought with considerable perfection. The figures have on their heads there very beautiful crowns."

Finally, from Couto we learn that the Elephanta interior was covered with a fine coat of lime and bitumen composition which 'made the Pagoda (temple) so bright, that it looked very beautiful and was worth seeing'. The colors have faded since in Elephanta, and only Couto's testimony remains to tell us how splendid it looked in the 16th century.

The Englishman John Ovington (1696) author of “A Voyage to Surat in the Year 1689, ”was specially fascinated by the animal sculpture in Elephanta: "Here likewise are the just dimensions of a Horse Carved in Stone, so lively with such a Colour and Carriage and the shape finisht with that Exactness, that many have Fancyed it, at a distance, a living Animal, than only a bare Representation.'

According to the Cambride man, Dr. Fryer, Elephanta too was a 'miraculous Piece hewd out of solid stone; it is supported with Forty two Corinthian Pillars, being a Square, open on all sides but towards the East; where stands a statue with three Heads, crowned with strange Hieroglyphics.' He noted with regret that the Portuguese 'strive to erase the reminders of this Herculean Work, that it may sink into oblivion of its Founders.'

Gemelli-Careri, the Italian (1700) took it to be the work of Alexander. "The Pagod or Temple....is one of the greatest wonders of Asia..."

(source: Much Maligned Monsters: A History of European Reactions to Indian Art - By Partha Mitter p. 31 - 41).