This is one of the most amazing bas-relief works I have ever seen. There is some dispute as to what it actually depicts. Some say it's the story of the Penance Arjuna makes to be granted Shiva's most powerful weapon, a god slaying instrument called Pasupata. Others say it depicts the penance of a sage named Bhagaritha, who in epic fashion asks the Ganges to fall to earth. Sculpted during the reign of the Palava King Narasimhavarman I, it is 30m long and 13m high! I sat for half an hour just staring from detail to detail at this granite marvel and world heritage site (until the guard told me I wasn't allowed to sit where I was).
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AuthorDr. Tim Scheffler is accompanying his wife on her sabbatical in Bangaluru, Karnataka State, India. During this break from lecturing at the Univ. of Hawai`i, Hilo and as Prinicipal Archaeologist for Geohazards Consultants International, Inc. he is focusing on photography and reading things he normally can't justify the time for... |