Kopeshwar Temple in Khidrapur

Khidrapur happened because of a family trip to Sangli.

We had driven after a long time- from Hyderabad to Sangli stopping at night in Solapur. Located between the borders of Maharshtra and Karnataka, Khidrapur is about an hours drive from Sangli. It is easily accessible from Kolhapur too. Khidrapur is a quaint little village with sugarcane farms all around it.

The legend behind the temple is as gorgeous as the carvings in it- Sati's immolation in Daksha's yagya on insulting Lord Shiva and eventual anger in Shiva who beheads Daksha only to be pacified by Lord Vishnu to restore Daksha's head with a goat's head is the story behind it. Lord Visnu brought Lord Shiva to Khidrapur to pacify him. Hence the name Kopeshwar temple. Unlike other Shiva temples, Nandi is missing here as he escorted Sati during her immolation. We can witness Lord Visnhu too in this temple.

Though part of it was built in 7th century by Badami Chalukyas, it was completed in 11th and 12th century by Shilahara king Gandaraditya and Vijayaditya. But, like all the other temples in India, this too was attacked and parts broken by Aurangzeb! Even today, none of the 92 elephant sculptures in the vicinity have their trunks in tact.

At the entrance of Swargamandapa

Exteriors of the temple...

The temple, built using hard basalt rock, stands as an example of one of the richest (in terms of architecture) in Maharashtra in the banks of river Krishna. The temple is divided in to four parts- the Swargamandapa, the Sabhamandapa, Antharal and Garbhagriha.
The first part- Swargamandapa, with its' circular open to sky ceiling, is its' unique feature. Though it looks incomplete, it was meant to be so. Of the total 48 pillars in the Swargamandapa, 12 main pillars have the sculpture of a deity  (Ashtadigpalas and other Gods) riding his/ her vehicle. Interestingly, these deities look as if they are riding alone if you look at them from front but a slight variation in angle would reveal their consort seated behind the deity except Karthikeya.

Complete view of Swargamandapa

Open to sky ceiling

Sculpture of deities on pillars

Pillars in Swargamandapa

The Sabhamandapa has 60 pillars with 5 Dwarapalas on lower panels of the door. The pillars depict stories from Ramayana, Panchatantra and other motifs of peacock, flowers etc., Photography inside the Sabhamandapa is prohibited. 

The Antaral has beautiful Madanikas carved (sadly broken) and an exquisitely carved  Chandrashila before entering the Garbhagriha. The Garbhagriha has two lingas- of Kopeshwar and Dhopeshwar. 
The exterior part of the temple has innumerable elephant and madanika sculptures.

The broken elephant sculpture, deity on the pillar with consort and dwarapalas...

Exterior carvings, lattice window and madanikas...

Spokes outside Swargamandapa

Unfortunately, there was guide available when we visited and the crowd too was large. But it didn't stop us from savouring the beauty of the temple especially the Swargamandapa! On our way back, we stopped at another temple village Narsoba Wadi; more for the food at one of the 'bhojanalayas' called the 'Soman Bhojanalaya' that served authentic Maharashtrian thalis. This village is famous for its' Dattatreya temple situated next to Krishna river. 

Allure of Ajanta Caves

Our visit to Ajanta caves was a part of trip to Aurangabad. Find the blog posts about Ellora cave temples here. Though Ajanta caves are in no way comparable to vastness and size of Ellora caves, they are more tourist friendly and totally worth the visit. The reflectors that are placed inside the caves is admirable which is completely missing in Ellora caves. And, the caves in Ajanta are not scattered unlike Ellora that makes it less exhausting.

Ajanta is about 100 kms away from the city of Aurangabad that consists of approximately 30 caves housing rock-cut monuments and paintings. The Indhyadri range of Western Ghats that lead to Ajanta from Aurangabad is very picturesque during the monsoons. The Chaityas and Viharas overlooking the Waghora (Tiger) river are cut in a horse-shoe pattern which gives a panoramic view of all the 30 caves to the visitors. Each cave has a unique Buddha sculpture, mural paintings and motifs. Some of the oldest caves date back to 2nd century B.C.E. and were accidentally discovered in 1819 by a British Officer Cpt. John Smith.

The view that leads to Ajanta Caves

Panoramic view of the caves

Cave No. 1
Ascending a good number of steps, when we reached the first cave an array of pillars with reflectors placed at various corners welcomed us. It takes a while to get adjusted to the lighting within the caves. This is the cave that holds maximum mural paintings that explains the stories of Bodhisathva (on the path of becoming a Buddha), Jataka Tales. One such stories include the Sibi Jataka: the story goes that a pigeon chased by a hawk sought protection of King Sibi who was a Bodhisathva. The hawk followed and demanded the king its' lawful prey. King Sibi struck a bargain to save the little bird's life by offering a measure of his own flesh equal to bird's weight. These paintings are depicted in cave number 1.

The cave paintings also show the Temptation of Mara: Buddha was tempted by the demon Mara during his course of meditations. When Buddha had left his palace and taken to the ascetic's life, Mara had been at his heels. "Turn back", Mara had told Buddha, "the jewel wheel of empire will be yours". Since Gautam scorned the prospect, Mara had made the threat,"Whenever you have a bad thought I shall know". For seven years Mara had followed Gautam like a shadow, he even sent his daughters to seduce him but after all this Buddha attains Enlightenment.

Read a very detailed blog post about all the paintings of Cave No.1 in Inditales. I love reading Anuradha Goyal's posts, they portray an in depth knowledge about the subjects she studies.

Notable thing to observe when one visits the caves is, the Viharas/ the monastery halls have  symmetrical square plans while the Chaityas/ the prayer halls have symmetrical rectangular plans.
Cave No. 1 contains the much famed paintings of Bodhisattva Padmapani (one who holds the lotus) and Vajrapani.

In contrast to this, the paintings on ceilings mainly contain motifs and other decorative designs unlike the paintings on walls that depict life scenes from Buddha's life and other Bodhisathvas,

The exterior of Cave No.1

Bodhisathva Padmapani at Cave No.1

Another painting from Cave No. 1

Cave No. 4
This is one of the largest monasteries planned that has a colossal image of Lord Buddha in the sanctum flanked by Bodhisathvas. The hall has 28 magnificent pillars. The ceiling of this cave has unique feature of lava flow called as 'Ropy'.

Pillars of Cave No.4

Cave No.9
This is one of the oldest Chaitya halls dating back to 1st century B.C. The hall is very simplistic with a stupa in the center with 23 pillars on both the sides that have intricate paintings which has faded. The walls have paintings of Jataka tales again.

Cave No.16 and 17
Records show that this cave was a gift from Varahadeva, a minister belonging Vakataka dynasty. The architectural beauty of these cave temples are striking. The paintings portray the various episodes from Buddha's life such as Maya's dream and Sujata's offering. Queen Maya, Gautama's mother, has a strange dream in her sleep- a white elephant with 6 tusks enters her body. When the Brahmanas in the royal court hear this, they interpret its' meaning. They say the queen is about to bear a son with all the auspicious marks of greatness. If he accepts the princely role, he will be a monarch of monarchs but if he renounces it would become a Buddha.

The portico of Cave No. 17 has the famous "Wheel of Life" depicted on it which is a living symbol in Tibetan monasteries.

Buddha relief inside Cave No.17

Flower motifs on the ceilings of Cave No.17

Cave No. 19
The entrance and the facade of this cave is richly decorated. The two life-size yakshas, statues of standing Buddha, sitting Buddha and flying Apsaras are very prominent here. Inside, there are 15 pillars dividing the hall into two aisles.  The ceiling has columns with paintings which adds beauty to the standing Buddha statue. It is a chaitya hall that depicts minute details from Mahayana period. Because of its' large number of stone figures it has been called 'the sculptor's treasure chest'.

Entrance of Cave No.19

Interiors of Cave No.19

Cave No.26
This cave which very similar to cave number 19 is one of my favourite! It is much bigger than cave 19, the sculptures around the aisle of this Chaitya hall is breathtakingly beautiful and intricate. There is a colossal reclining Buddha on one side of the wall. This cave is famous for its' Mahaparinirvana (demise) of Buddha.

On the way to Cave No.26

Entrance of Cave No.26

Stupa inside Cave No.26

Reclining Buddha...

Sculptures on the aisle 

The beauty of reclining Buddha through the huge pillars...

There are view points on the opposite side of these caves which can be accesses through a flight of stairs on the hillock. The water streams of Waghora river can also be seen in this area. But we could reach the view points as we were too tired after an exhausting walk through all the caves. On our way back, we stopped at the tourism department canteen that serves some amazing thalis. 

P.S: Once in Aurangabad, don't forget to devour the delicious 'Jalebi-Rabdi' dessert served at Green Leaf restaurant. 

Ellora caves- Part I

It seemed too unusual for us to take a trip during the monsoon. With unsure minds, with flood alerts transmitted throughout South India,  we had booked our tickets to Aurangabad. Once there, we were glad to learn that the weather was clear since the previous day and it was a perfect day to explore the elaborate caves at Ellora or Verul Veni (known locally).

Ellora was about 30 kms from Aurangabad city and we had passed through the foot of Daulatabad Fort on our way. We had reached the caves quite early to avoid the crowd of late hours. Though we had read about the place beforehand, it was quite unimaginable to comprehend the vastness of the carved beauties until we entered the entrance gate. And, we were welcomed by one of the celebrated structures among other caves, the Kailasa Temple. This blog post purely speaks about the caves that are dedicated to Hindu Gods (just to avoid a lengthy blog post).

Monsoon views...

First glimpse of the Kailasa temple at the entrance

Kirtisthamba...

Out of all the 34 caves present in the complex (Cave 1 to 12 Buddhist, Cave 13 to 29 Brahmanical and Cave 30 to 34 belonging to Jainism) dating back from 6th century A. D to 11th century A.D., the Kailasa temple stands as the epitome of all the other caves carved out during that era. According to a Marathi legend, in the 8th century, the queen of Rashtrakuta king Elu suffered from a severe disease. His wife prayed Shiva and made a vow to build a temple if her wish was granted. When the king was cured, she declared that she would not eat till a magnificent temple was built to Lord Shiva and was able to see its' 'Shikara'. When many architects refused to build the temple in such short notice, the king finally found an architect name Kokasa from Paithan who took the task of completing the temple. He assured the queen that she would see the Shikara in a weeks' time. He cleverly started carving out the temple from top so that the queen could see the top most Shikara first. Thus, he completed the Shikara in a week, helping the queen end her fast.

Shrine depicting the river Goddesses- Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswathi

Pillars around the rectangular trench...

It is estimated that over 200,000 tons of basalt rock was chiseled out over a period of two and half decades to build this magnificent 276 feet deep temple. Scenes from Ramayana and Mahabharata are intricately carved on the north and south plinths of the temple. In the courtyard there are free standing 'dhwajasthambhas' and elephants. A pillared chamber in the north-western direction houses a shrine dedicated to river Goddesses- Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswathi. The rectangular trench round the temple with numerous pillars on all sides and life- size carvings of various Hindu deities kept us busy for more than an hour.

View from the first- story of the temple...

We then moved towards other caves in descending order while enjoying the fresh growth of green plants all around because of the rains. The simple facade of cave no. 15 did not appeal us. When were just deciding to head back, we were stopped by a local guide who lead us to the double- storyed part of the temple that lay hidden behind the temple. A small flight of steps lead us to a spacious hall with square pillars and life-size carvings from Dasavatar on the wall. The hall was very dimly lighted and we had wished that the ASI had spent some effort in lighting up the area just like in Ajanta (a difference that we noticed in maintenance the next day).

The next important cave we visited was cave no. 12. That being a Buddhist monastery, I will write a separate post on it. To reach the other Hindu temples, we got on to the bus service available within the complex. We were quite famished by that time as we had not carried any eatables and except a MTDC canteen at the entrance there is nothing inside that we could find to replenish ourselves. The bus stopped near the Jain caves so we visited the Jain caves before heading to cave no 29. We had to walk quite a bit to reach the cave. But we were welcomed by a refreshing view just outside the cave. 
By the side of the cave 'Sita-ki-nahani', is a pool created by the Elaganga river. Due to the monsoons, the pool was being filled by a waterfall just above the cliffs. Spending some time enjoying the view, we entered the cave.

View outside cave no. 29

Pillars inside the cave...

Inner sanctum with 'dwarapalakas'

Known as Dumer Lena, the whole cave is supported by 26 cushion-like pillars. It is a huge cave again with life-size sculptures on the walls. Unique scenes of Shiva and Parvathi's wedding and both of them playing a dice game can be witnessed here. The inner sanctum has entrances from all four directions. Massive 'dwarapalakas' guard the entrances with female attendants. The cave also has sculptures depicting Ravana shaking the Kailasa mountain and Shiva killing the demon 'Andhaka'. 

Ravana shaking the Kailasa mountain...

Shiva killing Andhaka...

River Goddess Ganga...

With ever-growing hunger pangs in our tummies, we had decided to head back without completely visiting all the Hindu caves. The most important cave that we missed was cave no. 21 and view of Kailasa temple from top of the cliff for which we did not have the energy.