The vast expanse
of the Deccan plain -- a view from the caves of Aurangabad. The
caves here are few and unfinished because the sculptors discovered
that the rock was poor for carving. However, the basalt cliff
at Ellora proved to be excellent raw material for India's finest
rock-cut art.
Ashok
met us at the hotel in the morning, and proposed to take us to
the the sights of Aurangabad (his town) and Ellora (some 30 km
away) via his auto-rickshaw. After discussing it at breakfast,
we put aside our normal policy of avoiding transactions that
we did not initiate, and this time were glad we did . We had
a delightful day with this gentle soul.
To over-simplify, Day's presentation involved a study of the
iconography of the carvings as they relate to certain traditional
stories of Buddha and Vishnu (that is, incarnations of God).
Lord Ganesh, Remover of Obstacles
The 34 temples and vihars at Ellora are a mix of Buddhist,
Hindu and Jain, reflecting the waves of religious and political
change that swept through India between 400 and 1000 AD
Comments?
lou@designcoalition.org
