________________
DECEMBER, 1877.)
ROCK-CUT TEMPLES AT BÅDÅMI.
359
destroy the Asura, they greatly wondered and were very much afraid," until Brahmâ explained the mystery. In the Harivarnea (adh. clxxx., clxxxi. is another account of the contest between Siva and Vishņu, and of their subsequent union in one, concluding with a hymn to Harihara.
Hero the left side of the figure represents Hari or Vishņu with the sankcha in his uplifted hand, the other resting against his haunch, while the earring and cap are of a different pattern from that of Har a or Siva, on which is the crescent and a withering skull, while a cobra hangs from his ear, another from his belt, a third is on the front of his muguta, and a fourth twines round the parašu or axe he holds in one hand. In the other hand he holds some oval object.
A more common double figure in Hindu my thology is that of Ardhanâris vari, Ar dh a nesvari, or Ardhânârinateśvara, the union of Siva and Pårvati, in a half male half fernale form. In the Kábika Purana it is said-'Hara offered his wife to take half of her body and give her half of his own, or vice versa; and at length she took the half of Siva and joined it to her right side, and the god took half of Parvati and united it to his. Thus forming only one body with his wife, Siva has the name of Ardhanáris vara." Other stories are given in other Purd nas.
In the lowest or Saiva cave of the Badâmi group is a representation (Fig. 7) of this Ar. dhan å risa, in pretty good preservation. It occupies the right end of the verandah, and, as is usually the case at Elephants and elsewhere, the god is attended by his favourite white bull Nandi, which, the Saiva Samaya Vinávidai says, is a form of Dharma dê ya, the god of justice, who offered himself to Siva in this form as a vehicle. Behind Nandi, with clasped hands, stands Bhringi-a favourite devotee, or perhaps Kål, the form of Rudra or Siva himself as the author of destruction,-a gaunt and hideous skeleton. At the left or female side stands a female richly deeked, and bearing some fat object in her left hand.
The right side, which is always the male half, represents Siva,--the crescent moon and skall on his head-dress, a snake in his ear, another
I Foulkea's Legends of the Shrine of Harihara (Madras: Higginbotham & Co., 1876), pp. 37-41.
See also Ward's Hindus (ed. 1817), vol. I. p. 242.
Rjendral Ala Mitra'e Antiquities of Orissa, vol. I. p. 98,and plate XXVII. fg. 118. It is to be regretted that
coiled round his arm, a third hanging from his belt (the heads of them broken off), and a fourth twining round the battle-axo he holds in his oplifted hand : a portion of the tiger-skin in which he wraps his person hanging down on his thigh, with richly jewelled necklaces, bracelets, &c.
The left half, representing U masakti, has a large flat earring, necklaces, belt, armlets, and bracelets of different patterns from those on the male half. The hair is made up in a sort of chignon over the shoulder, much as it is still worn by the lower classes in the Madras Presidency, and is covered with a network of pearls or gems. A cord hangs down in front of the thigh, terminating in a small flat heart-shaped end--an ornament specially noticeable on many of the figures in the Ka ilås a rock-temple at Elurâ. On the foot are two heavy anklets, and these and the very long bracelets on the wrists and also on the female companion cannot fail to remind the observer of the similar abundance of bone and brass rings worn by the Wanjäris and other aboriginal tribes to the present day. She holds up a flower, and with the other hand grasps one end of a stick, or perhaps a lute, the other end of which is held by the front hand of the male half. The attendant female wears a loose kirtle held up by a richly jewelled belt. Her earrings are different-that in the right ear consisting of a long link hanging down to the shoulder, and in the end of it a thick jewelled ring and short pendant; the other is a broad thick disc like that known in Bengal by the name of dhenri.. Her hair is done up in a very elaborate style, with a profusion of pearls over the forehead. Floating overhead on each side are two figures, male and female, with offerings, and having elaborate head-dresses.
This union of Siva and Pârvati in a single body personifies the principle of life and production in its doublo aspect--the active principle under the name of Purusha, and the female or passive under that of Prakriti. It embodies the central idea of nature-worship, and occurred to the early Greeks, as we see from the old Orphic hymn preserved by Stobæus beginning
Ζεύς άρσην γένετο, Ζεύς αμβροτος άπλετο νύμφη. "Zeus was a male, Zeus became a deathless damsel." we have no descriptive catalogue of female ornamenta used in India.
. Stobaeus, Eclog. Phys. ed. Heeren, vol. I. p. 49; conf. Muir, Orig. Sansk. Tents, vol. I. Pp. 9, 86, vol. IV. p. 331; and rol. V. p. 300.
