HTML clipboardTaken from the Bhagavata-Purana, this great Hindu
creation myth is here spectacularly realised in one continuous 49m panel. By
pulling alternately on the body of the giant naga Vasuki, which is coiled around
Mount Mandara, the gods and asuras rotate the mountain for 1,000 years to churn
the cosmic sea - the Sea of Milk - and so produce amrita, the elixir of
immortality. In the event, this cooperation between gods and asuras is shattered
as soon as the amrita begins to be produced. The gods go back on their promise
to give half to the asuras, who then try to steal it. The scene shown here,
however, is the actual churning.
For the first 5m, the army of asuras is lined up with horses and
elephants; the churning begins directly after this, and the first you see is a
giant multi-headed asura - Ravana - holding the five heads of the giant naga
Vasuki. Beyond him stretches the team of 92 asuras pulling in unison on the
serpent's body. The cosmic sea is represented by a swirling mass of marine life,
caught up in the turbulence, all enclosed by a second representation of the naga,
lying flat on the bottom of the ocean, its heads rearing up at the far left. In
the sky above fly large numbers of apsaras, created as part of the process.
As you walk along, note the variety of marine life, most real, some
mythical. It includes, among many kinds of fish, crocodiles, dragons. nagas, and
turtles. Close to the centre of the panel the churning is so violent that many
of them are sliced into pieces. In the middle, on the pillar-like Mount Mandara,
four-armed Vishnu directs operations. He also appears below, as his turtle
avatar Kurma, supporting the rotating mountain as it threatens to sink below the
sea. The treatment here is full of incident and detail: above, a flying Indra
helps to steady the top oUta mountain, while close to Vishnu's discus are tiny
images of the elephant Airavata and the horse Ucchaissravas, both created by the
churning, like the apsaras. Notice that the area surrounding Vishnu is
incompletley carved. The presence of Ravana and I lanuman on either side is
quite unique and not part of the original legend. It represents the Khmer
combining the ancient Vedic legend with characters from the Ramayana.
On the N side, as you continue, 88 gods pull the naga's body in the
opposite direction, commanded at the tail by a giant Hanuman. The last 5m of the
bas-relief are taken up by the army of the gods.
|
