Friday, September 28, 2012

The Wheel and the Smiling Apsara - photos taken in India by Gilbert Etienne.

1. Wheel of the chariot of the sun, 3 metres high. Konarak.

2. Detail of a wheel of the chariot of the sun, Konarak.

3. On the road from Gwalior to Agra, peasants on the way to the festival of Diwali at Morena.

4. Flying figure, Kailasa of Ellora, VIIIth century.

5. Detail of the Rameshwaram cave (No. 21) at Ellora, VIth century (?). The figure on the left represents the river goddess Ganga, on the right a protecting divinity.

6. Reliefs of cave No. 19 at Ajanta. The king and the queen of the snakes (naga) lords of the water.

7. Rameshwaram cave at Ellora, Shiva as Nataraja, king of the dance.

8. Cave temple of Elephanta, end of the VIth century (?). Shiva in his two aspects: masculine and feminine, leaning on his traditional steed, the bull Nandi.

9. Halebid, Mysore, the great Shiva temple. XIIIth century, Hoysala style.

10. Detail of the outer doorway of the temple of Mukteshwara, Bhubaneshwar, Orissa, about 975 A.D.

11. Sun Temple, smile of the apsara.

12. Meeting near Debal, Gharwal, Bara Khimanand and his daughter go down to the plain.

13. In the temple of Jembukeshwara, near Shrirangam, group of Brahmins, in the background the entrance to the cella containing the statue of the god and into which non-Hindus may not enter.

14. Statue of the Jain God Mahavir, X-XIth century, Nilkanth, Alwar district.

3 comments:

  1. Scans source: Gilbert Etienne - Inde Sacree (Holy India) - Editions Ides et Calendes, Paris, 1955.

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  2. Nice pictures, The first picture is a sundial that shows time accurately even today and the fourth picture is not an apsara. It shows demon Ravana flying while being attacked by Jatayu, a vulture God. Have a great day.

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  3. Welcome, Phenomenal Place,
    thanks for the additional information. I did not write of apsara for the fourth picture, but a flying figure, as it is written in the commentary of the photo in the book. "The Wheel and the Smiling Apsara" is only a fantasy title for the post.

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