Sadashiva

* Sadashiva *

“The mysterious carvings at the Elephanta rock-cut caves, on an island off Bombay about an hour’s ferry-ride away, are thought to be a synthesis of Chalukyan and Gupta art forms dating, it is thought, to the 4th century. We do not know who created them, how they were conceived or executed, why or when they were abandoned. The square pillars with rounded lotus capitals are distinctly Chalukyan, yet the sensuous grace of the carvings are closer to the Gupta renaissance after a thousand years of Buddhist-dominated subject matters.

The towering Sadashiva – Eternal Shiva -- carving in Cave 1 at Elephanta has not been surpassed in Indian art. It is a colossal yet serene representation of the five-faced Shiva, whose three frontal aspects are visible as Mahadeva – the lord of the gods; Bhairava – the destructive aspect of divinity; and Vamadeva – the creative i.e. female aspect of Shiva. The fourth face is hidden from the viewer, and suggested to be a Nandi-borne Pashupati or lord of beasts. The fifth face of Shiva is transcendent, beyond human comprehension, and is never carved in the Hindu tradition.”