The Iconography and Ritual of Siva at Elephanta

By DevotionalStore

Rs. 1,000.00 Free shipping in India!

ITEM CODE: NAC244

AUTHOR: CHARLES DILLARD COLLINS

PUBLISHER: SRI SATGURU PUBLICATIONS

EDITION: 1991

ISBN: 8170302595

PAGES: 345 (88 B/W ILLUSTRATIONS)

COVER: HARDCOVER

OTHER DETAILS 8.8 INCH X 5.8 INCH

WEIGHT 500 GM

There is no exchange for this product

The beautiful rock-cut Siva temple on Elephanta Island in Bombay harbour is one of the finest monuments of Indian religion and art. Until now, interpretation of its magnificent sculptured scenes has been neglected.

In this book, Collins systematically surveys the pertinent Vedic, Epic and early Puranic literature as well as the contributions of India’s foremost poet and dramatist, Kalidasa, to reveal sources for and interpretation of the subjects of the relief sculptures. This surveys shows strong associations with are as formerly controlled by the classical Gupta dynasty in northern India. This book provides the first detailing of this link, intimated by others before, which helps to explain the grandeur of style found in the colossal reliefs.

By applying certain aspects of ritual texts of the Lakulisa-Pasupata, the sect that probably used Elephanta originally, exceptional clarity is reveled for the worship of the sculptures in a counterclockwise sequence, quite unusual in India, but appropriate to this particular sect. Lakulisa-Pasupata texts are invoked in Collin’s theory of how the cave-temple at Elephanta was used. This area of investigation has been virtually untouched by other scholars of any early Hindu shrine in India.

Charles Dillard Collins is Associate Professor of Fine Arts at the Rochester’ Institute of Technology.

This item is covered under our 30-day Exchange Policy. Please see our Cancellation & Exchange Policy for details.