Goddess Durga Fighting with Mahisasur

Goddess Durga Fighting with Mahisasur

 Mahaballipuram, Pallava Dynasty, 7th Century CE

           One of the most brilliantly executed panels of Mahaballipuram is this one. We are all familiar with the killing of Mahisasur by Goddess Durga.  But here the sculptor has depicted the battle when the tide has started turning against Mahisasur.  He is on his back leg, tilting back; his warriors have fallen, while the Devi ' s army is advancing. There are dead bodies strewn in the battlefield.  ( Notice the corpse in the middle of the panel--a top view of a dead body). The Pallava artist has used the cross diagnals to make the panel more dynamic. The panel is full of fury and energy. It is a battle scene frozen in stone. 

         Mahisasur Mardani sculptures capture the final act of killing of the demon. Here the defeat has just begun. The artist has purposefully depicted the story in the middle.  Life itself is a constant battle between good and bad. It  is a fight which is uncertain. When the tide may turn, we do not know. It took the Pandavas eighteen days to defeat the Kauravs.  But fight we must wage within ourselves to cleanse the evil within us. Similarly a fight goes on within a society with regard to its evil practices, with regard to class struggle, with regard to ideologies. But we should not be overwhelmed by being in middle of a battle.  The fight should be with a sense of detachment. 

        The Pallavas could teach us many things about life through such stunning sculptures ! 

Dharmaraj Rath

Dharmaraj Rath

Mahaballipuram, Pallava Dynasty,7th Century CE

     A larger version of the Arjun Rath,  and the most imposing structure is the Dharamraj Rath or the Yudhisthir Rath. It is a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. Like the other temples  this temple is also unfinished.  But has sufficient number of sculptures of Lord Shiva in his different manifestation to tell us that it is a Shiva temple.  We can see two images of Lord Shiva in this picture itself. On the left is Bhairav, the violent form of Lord Shiva;  on the right is his peaceful form. Both co - exist side by side as the ancient Indians believed that creativity and destruction go hand in hand. 

      Yudhisthir is an interesting character in Mahabharata.  Said to be the son of Yama,  the Hindu god of Justice and death, Yudhisthir is personification of Dharma  ( righteous conduct ).  If Bhim is brute force, Arjun is intellectual,  then Yudhisthir is wise. Yet, at times his wisdom fails him and he gives into temptation as when he played the dice game and wagered, his brothers, his wife and even his Kingdom.  He spends the rest of his life in remorse for his faults. Like us, he is constantly caught up in dilemma about what is right and what is wrong. But his answers to the questions posed by Dharamraj, Lord Yama prove his steadfastness to Dharma.  

        After he has answered all the questions, Dharamraj asks him to chose one of his brothers who should be resurrected as all the four brothers were lying dead before him. Yudhisthir asks that Sehdev, the youngest brother, should be revived. Dharamraj is puzzled at this choice. He asks Yudhisthir to explain his choice. For, Yudhisthir has not asked that Arjun or Bhim should be revived. Yudhisthir says, " in the dice game I had waged my brothers.  Arjun and Bhim and I are from the same mother. But Nakul and Sehdev are from Madari, my younger mother ( step-mother). If I ask for Arjun or Bhim it would be unfair. For neither of Madri 's children would live. I must be fair to both my mothers. Sehdev is the yongest of us all. He has to be protected by the eldest. Let him be resurrected. " Dharmaraj was pleased with Yudhisthir ' s sense of fairness and justice. He revived all the four brothers. 

        The sense of equality, of fairness is the heart and soul of Justice.  For justice cannot exist in their absence. We are duty bound to protect and promote the "younger" brothers. If we don't, then we are being a tyrant. Mahabharata teaches us that were Dharma exists, where the sense of fairness lives, peace and prosperity thrive.  As a nation, we should not forget this.

Raths at Mahaballipuram

Raths at Mahaballipuram

Pallava Dynasty, 7th Century CE

        One of the greatest dynasties of South India was the Pallava Dynasty (6th -8th Century CE ). They were the contemporaries of the Chalukya Dynasty of Karnataka.  There were incessant wars between the two dynasties for 300 years. Not only the Royal egos, but also the fertile lands of the Tungabhadra region caused these wars.  While the Pallavas wanted to expand their kingdom north westward, the Chalukyas wanted to capture the Tamil lands to the south and to have the hegemony of the sea. 

         Mahaballipuram is one of the most ancient ports of India. Plinny the Yonger, the famous Roman historian mentions the Indian ports of Baruch and Mahaballipuram in his book on Ports of the World. The Romans had strong trade ties with South India, so much so, that under Emperor Tiberius, the Roman Senate passed laws against import of import of exotic Indian animals and cotton textile.  This is one of the first examples of protectionism in global market. 

         Mahaballipuram was a thriving port city. But these temples called "Raths" were left unfinished. Five monolithic temples were carved out of s single hill. Here we see three of them. Although these Raths are named after the Pandav brothers, but the Pandavas never came this far to the south. Interestingly each temple is carved in different style. The first one, a Durga Temple has a hatched roof structure.  The long building we see here in this picture is like a long gallery from Ajanta Caves.  The Shiva temple, we see in the foreground, is built in the Dravidian style. Like Pattadakal in Karnataka, here the architects were experimenting with different styles of architecture.  This not only proves the dexterity, but also reveals the myriad  imagination of the Pallava architects. The adventurous spirit of the Pallavas is reflected both in their art and in their seafaring to the East Indies. The Pallava spirit or the Tamil spirit is indomitable. 

Goddess Durga Enters the Battlefield to Fight Mahisasur

Goddess Durga Enters the Battlefield to Fight Mahisasur

Mahabalipuram, Pallava Dynasty,7th Century AD

The force of Shakti can be felt palpably as the figures move from left to right. The Great Goddess has just entered the battlefield. Mahisasur is already on the back foot. But the battle has just begun. He does not lie slaughtered and conquered. He stands heroically and faces his adversary.

The battle between the good and evil is an eternal one. It rages all the time in all of us. We require Shakti to overcome temptations, lust greed and anger. We nees Shakti to overpower our ego. We are all Mahisasurs, our Mind is the seat of Goddess Durga--ready to fight all evil. The Great Mother is within us.