Poetry in Stone - 9

This is ninth in the series on the rich cultural heritage of ancient temples in India. Today we will see how the elephants have been carved from stone in various temples through the centuries.

At the 12th century Chennakesava Temple of Belur there are intricate sculptures and friezes. They include elephants, lions, horses, episodes from the Indian mythological epics. What interested me is the chain of elephants at the base of the temple.

Watch them carefully and you can see two elephants as if they are interacting with each other. The elephant in the front is turning back and questioning "Why are you pushing me so hard?" See it for yourself below.

In contrast to the red color of 16th century Aghoreshwara Temple of Ikkeri there are two small black stone elephant sculptures at the entrance. Around its neck is a there is intricately carved chain of stone bells.

There are two beautifully carved stone elephants on either side of the entrance of the 9th century Ranganathswamy Temple at Srirangapattana. The carvings on the body of elephant are awesome.

At the ancient white marble Jain Temple, Ranakpur one can see huge elephant carved in white marble.

In Mahablaipuram at the site of Panch Rathas one can see life-size rock cut elephant. There are many more such beautiful carvings in each of the ancient heritage sites which always mesmerize us.