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Elephanta Caves

The Elephanta Caves are a collection of cave temples predominantly dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, which have been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. They are on Elephanta Island, or Gharapuri (literally meaning "the city of caves"), in Mumbai Harbour, 10 km east of Mumbai in the Indian state of Mahārāshtra. The island, about 2 km west of the Jawaharlal Nehru Port, consists of five Hindu caves, a few Buddhist stupa mounds that date back to the 2nd century BCE, and two Buddhist caves with water tanks.

The Elephanta Caves contain rock-cut stone sculptures, mostly in high relief, that show syncretism of Hindu and Buddhist ideas and iconography. The caves are hewn from solid basalt rock. Except for a few exceptions, much of the artwork is defaced and damaged. The main temple's orientation as well as the relative location of other temples are placed in a mandala pattern. The carvings narrate Hindu mythologies, with the large monolithic 5.45 m Trimurti Sadashiva (three-faced Shiva), Nataraja (Lord of dance) and Yogishvara (Lord of Yogis) being the most celebrated.

These date to between the 5th and 9th centuries, and scholars attribute them to various Hindu dynasties. They are most commonly placed between the 5th and 7th centuries. Many scholars consider them to have been completed by about 550 CE.

They were named Elefante—which morphed to Elephanta—by the colonial Portuguese who found elephant statues on the caves. They established a base on the island. The main cave (Cave 1, or the Great Cave) was a Hindu place of worship until the Portuguese arrived, whereupon the island ceased to be an active place of worship. The earliest attempts to prevent further damage to the caves were started by British India officials in 1909. The monuments were restored in the 1970s. It is currently maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

Geography
Elephanta Island, or Gharapuri, is about 11 km east of the Gateway of India in the Mumbai Harbour and less than 2 km west of Jawaharlal Nehru Port. The island covers about 10 km2 at high tide and about 16 km2 at low tide. Gharapuri is a small village on the south side of the island. The Elephanta Caves is connected by ferry services from the Gateway of India, Mumbai between 9AM and 2PM daily, except Monday when the Caves are closed. Mumbai has a major domestic and international airport, as well as is connected to the Indian Railways. The island is 2.4 km in length with two hills that rise to a height of about 150 m. A narrow, deep ravine separates the two hills and runs from north to south. On the west, the hill rises gently from the sea and stretches east across the ravine and rises gradually to the extreme east to a height of 173 m. Forest growth with clusters of mango, tamarind, and karanj trees cover the hills with scattered palm trees. The foreshore is made up of sand and mud with mangrove bushes on the fringe. Landing quays sit near three small hamlets known as Set Bunder in the north-west, Mora Bunder in the northeast, and Gharapuri or Raj Bunder in the south.

There are five rock-cut caves in the western hill and a brick stupa on the eastern hill. The eastern hill has two Buddhist mounds and is called the Stupa hill. Close to the five western hill caves, are Cave 6 and 7 on the eastern hill. The most visited and significant cave is on the western hill and is called Cave 1 or the Great Cave, located about a kilometre walk up a steep graded uphill. The Elephanta island is a protected monument area as per the requirements of UNESCO. A notification was issued by the Government of India in 1985 declaring a buffer zone that outlines "a prohibited area" that stretches 1 km from the shoreline.

Description
The island has two groups of rock-cut caves, hewn from solid basalt rock. The larger group of caves, which consists of five caves on the western hill of the island, is well known for its Hindu sculptures. The primary cave, numbered as Cave 1, is about 1.0 km up a hillside, facing the Mumbai harbour. Caves 2 through 5 are next to Cave 1 further southeast, arranged in a row. Cave 6 and 7 are about 200 m northeast of Cave 1 and 2, but geologically on the edge of the eastern hill.

The two hills are connected by a walkway. The eastern hill is also called the Stupa hill, while the western hill is called the Canon hill, reflecting their historic colonial-era names, the ancient Stupa and the Portuguese era firing Canons they host respectively.

All the caves are rock-cut temples that together have an area of 5600 m2. At their most elaborate, they have a main chamber, two lateral chambers, courtyards, and subsidiary shrines, but not all are so fully developed. Cave 1 is the largest and is 39 m deep from the front entrance to the back. The temple complex is primarily the abode of Shiva, depicted in widely celebrated carvings which narrate legends and theologies of Shaivism. However, the artwork reverentially displays themes from Shaktism and Vaishnavism traditions of Hinduism as well.

Cave 1: Main, Great Cave
The main cave, also called Cave 1, Grand Cave or the Great Cave, is 39.63 m square in plan with a hall (mandapa). The basic plan of the cave can be traced back to the plan of the ancient Buddhist viharas, consisting of a square court surrounded by cells, built from about 500 to 600 years before in India. The Cave has several entrances, the main entrance is unassumingly small and hides the grand hall inside. The main entrance faces north, while two side entrances face east and west. The cave's main entrance is aligned with the north–south axis, unusual for a Shiva shrine (normally east–west). However, inside is an integrated square plan Linga shrine (garbha-griya) that is aligned east–west, opening to the sunrise.

Layout (3D Google Arts & Culture tour):

1. Ravananugraha

2. Shiva-Parvati, Mount Kailash

3. Ardhanarishvara

4. Sadashiva Trimurti

5. Gangadhara

6. Wedding of Shiva

7. Shiva slaying Andhaka

8. Nataraja

9. Yogishvara

16. Linga

East Wing Shrine

10. Kartikeya

11. Matrikas

12. Ganesha

13. Dvarapala

West Wing Shrine

14. Yogishvara

15. Nataraja

To reach the main cave, a visitor or pilgrim has to walk up 120 steep steps from the beach or take the tourist toy train. At the main entrance are four pillars, with three open porticoes and an aisle at the back. Pillars, six in each row, divide the hall into a series of smaller chambers. The roof of the hall has concealed beams supported by stone columns joined together by capitals.

The temple is enclosed in the cave, it has interior walls but no exterior wall. The pillars create space and symmetric rhythm as they support the weight of the hill above. The main mandapa recesses into a pillared vestibule (ardha-mandapa) on the south side, while a pillared portico (mukha-mandapa) connects it to the main entrance. Embedded within the Great Cave are dedicated shrines, the largest of which is the square plan Linga shrine (see 16 in plan). It is a square garbha-griya (womb house) with four entrances, located in the right section of the main hall. Steps lead from the four doorways into the sanctum, which has a linga in the mulavigraha style. Each doorway is guarded by a dvarapala on each side, for a total of eight dvarapalas, their heights spanning floor to the ceiling. These were badly damaged when the Portuguese ceded control of this region to the British. The linga shrine is surrounded by a mandapa and circumambulation path (pradakshina-patha) as in other Hindu temples. The pillars are similarly aligned east–west to this shrine and have an east entrance. Overlaid, as if fused, on the architecture of this temple is another open temple aligned to the north–south direction with three faced Sadashiva as its focal centre. One features the abstract, unmanifest, aniconic symbol of Shiva, the other anthropomorphic, manifest, iconic symbol of Shiva. The mandapa pillars of the two align up.

The northern entrance to the cave is flanked by two panels of Shiva dated to the Gupta period, both damaged. The left panel depicts Yogishvara (Shiva as the Lord of Yoga) and the right shows Nataraja (Shiva as the Lord of Dance). The Sadashiva is flanked by two large friezes, one of Ardhanarishvara and the other of Gangadhara. The walls of the mandapa feature other Shaivism legends. All the friezes, states Stella Kramrisch, feature the  concept of Samkhya, where the state of spiritual existence transitions between the unmanifest-manifest, the figures leap out of the cave walls towards the spectator as if trying to greet the narrative. Even the manifested Sadashiva is shown to be rising out of the rocks.

Each wall has large carvings of Shiva-related legends, each more than 5 m in height. The central Shiva relief Trimurti is located on the south wall opposite the main entrance. Also called the Sadashiva, it is the iconic form of a pancamukha linga is set in a mandala pattern with the abstract linga form of Shiva. The Sadashiva is a colossal carving, a bit over 6.27 m, depicting Tatpurusha (Mahadeva), Aghora (Bhairava), Vamadeva (Uma) and Sadyojata (Nandin). The carving is unusual because the standard ancient Hindu texts for murti design state that the Tatpursha should face east, but in Elephanta it is the north face (pointing towards the main entrance).

Smaller shrines are located at the east and west ends of the caves. The eastern sanctuary serves as a ceremonial entrance, and its shrine shows iconography of Shaktism tradition.

Sadashiva: Trimurti
The Trimurti is considered a masterpiece and the most important sculpture in the caves. It is carved in relief on the south wall of the cave facing the north entrance, along the north–south axis. It is also known as Sadashiva and Maheshmurti. The image, 5.45 m in height, depicts a three-headed Shiva, representing Panchamukha Shiva.

The three heads represent three essential aspects of Shiva: creation, protection, and destruction. As per another version, the three heads symbolise compassion and wisdom. The right half-face (west face) shows him holding a lotus bud, depicting the promise of life and creativity. This face is symbolism for Brahma, the creator or Uma or Vamadeva, the feminine side of Shiva and creator. The left half-face (east face) is that of a moustached young man. This is Shiva as the terrifying Aghora or Bhairava, the chaos creator and destroyer. This is also known as Rudra-Shiva, the Destroyer. The central face, benign and meditative Tatpurusha, resembles the preserver Vishnu. This is the Shiva form as the "master of positive and negative principles of existence and preserver of their harmony". The three-headed Shiva are his creator, preserver and destroyer aspects in Shaivism. They are equivalently symbolism for Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma, they being equivalent of the three aspects found in Shaivism.

Gangadhara
The Trimurti Shiva is flanked on its left by Ardhanarisvara (a half-Shiva, half-Parvati composite) and Gangadhara legend to its right. The Gangadhara image to the right of the Trimurti shows Shiva and Parvati standing. Shiva brings the Ganges River down from the heavens and her immense power is contained effortlessly in Shiva's hair as she descends from heaven. The artists carved a small three bodied goddess up high, a symbolism for Ganges, Yamuna and Saraswati. The mother goddess Parvati stands tall next to Shiva, smiling. The carving is 4 m wide and 5.207 m high.

The Gangadhara image is highly damaged, particularly the lower half of Shiva seen seated with Parvati, who is shown with four arms, two of which are broken. From the crown, a cup with a triple-headed female figure (with broken arms) to depict the three major rivers in Hindu texts. An alternative interpretation of the three-bodied goddess in Gangadharamurti panel here and elsewhere is that it represents the regenerative powers of rivers in the form of Mandakini, Suradhani and Bhagavati. In this grotto scene, Shiva is sculpted and bedecked with ornaments, while gods gather to watch the cosmic source of earthly abundance. The gods and goddesses shown are identifiable from the vahana (vehicle) and icons, and they include Brahma (left), Indra (left), Vishnu (right), Saraswati, Indrani, Lakshmi, and others.

Wrapped on one of the arms of Shiva is his iconic coiling serpent whose hood is seen near his left shoulder. Another hand (partly broken) gives the semblance of Shiva hugging Parvati, with a head of matted hair. A damaged ornamented drapery covers his lower torso, below the waist. Parvati is carved to the left of Shiva with a coiffured hair dress, fully bedecked with ornaments and jewellery. Between them stands a gana (dwarf jester) expressing confused panic as to whether Shiva will be able to contain the mighty river goddess. In the lower left of the panel is a kneeling devout figure in namaste posture representing the heroic mythical king Bhagiratha who worked hard to bring the river of prosperity to his earthly kingdom, but unaware of the potentially destructive forces that came with it.

Ardhanarishvara
On the wall to the east of the Trimurti is a damaged four-armed Ardhanarishvara carving. This image, which is 5.11 m in height. It represents the ancient Hindu concept of essential interdependence of the feminine and the masculine aspects in the universe, for its creation, its sustenance and its destruction. It is represented as half woman shown as half of Parvati in this Elephanta panel on the right side, with breast, waist, feminine hair and items such as a mirror in the upper hand. The second half-man side is Shiva with male characteristics and items iconographically his symbol. In Shaivism, the concept pictorially symbolises the transcendence of all duality including gender, with the spiritual lacking any distinctions, where energy and power (Shakti, Parvati) is unified and is inseparable with the soul and awareness (Brahman, Shiva).

In the panel, the relief shows a headdress (double-folded) with two pleats draped towards the female head (Parvati) and the right side (Shiva) depicting curled hair and a crescent. The female figure has all the ornamentation (broad armlets and long bracelets, a large ring in the ear, jewelled rings on the fingers) but the right male figure has drooping hair, armlets and wristlets. One of his hands rests on Nandi bull's left horn, Shiva's mount, which is fairly well preserved. The pair of hands at the back is also bejewelled; the right hand of the male side holds a serpent, while the left hand of the female side holds a mirror. The front left hand is broken, while a large part of the lower half of the panel was damaged at some point. Around the Ardhanarishwara are three layers of symbolic characters. The lowest or at the same level as the viewer are human figures oriented reverentially towards the androgyne image. Above them are gods and goddesses such as Brahma, Vishnu, Indra and others who are seated on their vahanas. Above them are flying apsaras approaching the fused divinity with garlands, music, and celebratory offerings.

Shiva slaying Andhaka
The panel in the northwest side of the cave, on the wall near west entrance and the Linga shrine (see 7 in plan), is an uncommon sculpture about the Andhakasura-vadha legend. It shows Bhairava, or Virabhadra, a ferocious form of Shiva killing the demon Andhaka (literally, "blind, darkness"). The relief is much ruined below the waist, is 3.5 m high and posed in action. Though a relief, it is carved to give it a three dimensional form, as if the ferocious Shiva is coming out of the rocks and impaling Andhaka with his trident.

Bhairava's headgear has a ruff on the back, a skull, and a cobra over the forehead, and the crescent high on the right. His facial expression is of anger, the conviction of something he must do, and one in the middle of the action. The legs and five of the eight arms are broken, attributed to Portuguese vandalism. The smaller broken image Andhaka is seen below Bhairava's image. Also depicted in his right hand is the symbolic weapon that Shaiva mythology states Shiva used to kill the destructive elephant demon. A hand holds a bowl to collect the blood dripping from the slain Andhaka, which Shaiva legend states was necessary because the dripping blood had the power to become new demons if they got nourished by the ground. Furthermore, the artwork shows ruined parts of a male and two female forms, figures of two ascetics, a small figure in front, a female figure, and two dwarfs. The uppermost part shows flying apsaras bringing garlands.

Wedding of Shiva

The niche image carved on the southwest wall, near the Linga shrine (see 6 on plan) is the wedding of Shiva and Parvati. This legend is called the Kalyanasundara in Hindu texts. Parvati is seen standing to Shiva's right, the customary place for a Hindu bride at the wedding. The carvings are substantially damaged, but the ruined remains of the sculpture have been significant to scholarly studies of Hindu literature. In many surviving versions of the Puranas, the wedding takes place in King Parvata's palace. However, in this Elephanta Cave panel, the narrative shows some earlier version. Here King Parvata standing behind Parvati gives away the bride to Shiva while Brahma is the priest in the grotto relief. Gods, goddesses and celestial apsaras are cheering witness to the wedding. Vishnu is witness to the marriage, standing tall behind the sitting Brahma on the right side of the panel. Just above the main images rishi (sages) and a few characters hanging from the ceiling are seen blessing the wedding.

The groom Shiva is shown calm and young, while Parvati is depicted as shy and emotional. Her head is tilted towards him and her eyelids joyfully lowered, while his hand (now broken) is holding hers. Their dress reflect the Hindu customs. He wears the sacred thread across his chest, she the customary jewellery. The other characters shown in the wedding carry items or are shown holding items that typically grace a Hindu wedding. Chandra (moon god), for example, holds a traditionally decorated water vessel (kalash). Brahma, the priest, is squatting on the floor to the right tending the yajna fire (agni mandapa).

Yogishvara: Lord of Yoga
The panel in the east side of the portico next to the north entrance (see 9 on plan) is Shiva in Yoga. This form of Shiva is called Yogishvara, Mahayogi, Lakulisa.

Shiva, states Stella Kramrisch, is the "primordial yogi" in this panel. He is the master of discipline, the teacher of Yoga arts, the master who shows how yoga and meditation leads to the realisation of ultimate reality.

The relief is in a dilapidated condition with most of the arms and legs broken. He is seated in padmasana lost in his meditation. His posture is well formed and suggests that the 6th century artist knew this asana. He sits on a lotus with a stalk shown as if coming out of the earth, his legs are crossed symmetrically. Two Nagas flank the lotus and express their reverence with a namaste posture. The great yogi is being approached by various Vedic and Puranic gods and goddesses, as well as monks and sadhus, yet there is a halo around him that keeps them at bay as if they admire it but do not wish to disturb his meditation.

In some ways, the yogi artwork shown in this Hindu cave are similar to those found in Buddhist caves, but there are differences. Yogi Shiva, or Lakulisa, wears a crown here, his chest is shown vaulting forward as if in breathing exercises found in Hindu yoga texts, the face and body expresses different energy. This Shiva yogi comes across as the "lord of the caves" or Guhesvara in medieval Indian poetry, states Kramrisch. According to Charles Collins, the depiction of Shiva as Yogi in Elephanta Cave 1 is harmonious with those found in the Puranas dated to early and mid 1st millennium CE.

Nataraja: Lord of Dance
The panel facing the Yogishvara, on the west side of the portico next to the north entrance (see 8 on plan) is Shiva as the Nataraja, "cosmic dancer" and "the lord of dancers". It is also called the Nrittamurti.

The badly damaged relief panel is 4 m wide and 3.4 m high and set low on the wall. His body and arms are shown as wildly gyrating in the lalita mudra, a symbolism for occupying all of space, soaring energy and full bodied weightlessness. His face here resembles the Tatpurusha, or the manifested form of Shiva that preserves and sustains all of creation, all of creative activity. This is an eight-armed depiction of Nataraja. The parts of the panel that have survived suggest that he is holding an axe, a coiled serpent is wrapped around its top. In another he holds a folded cloth, possibly symbolic veil of maya.

There are fewer gods, goddesses and observers in this panel than others in this cave, with Brahma, Vishnu, Lakshmi, Saraswati and Parvati are visible and have a facial expression of being spellbound. Also present are his sons leaping Ganesha and Kartikeya holding Shiva's staff, as well as an ascetic and a rishi, thus weaving the family life and the ascetic monastic life, the secular and the spiritual tied in through metaphorical symbolism of dance within the same panel. The dancer and destroyer aspects of Shiva are clustered in the northwest part of the cave, in contrast to yoga and creator aspects that are found in the northeast parts. This 6th-century Nataraja shares architectural elements with those found in temples in the western parts of South Asia such as in Gujarat, and in upper Deccan region.

Mount Kailash and Ravananugraha
The carvings at the east entrance are battered and blurry. One in the southeast corner of the mandapa (see 2 on plan) depicts Shiva and Parvati in Mount Kailash in the Himalayas, and the shows the Umamaheshvara story. The scene includes rocky terrain and clouds layered horizontally. On top of the rock sit the four-armed Shiva and Parvati by his side. Nandi stands below her, while celestial apsaras float on the clouds above. There are traces of a crown and a disc behind Shiva, but it is all damaged. The scene is crowded with accessory figures, which may be because the eastern entrance was meant to have a devotional focus.

The panel facing the Mount Kailash panel towards the northeast corner (see 1 on plan) depicts demon king Ravana trying to lift Kailash and bother Shiva, a legend called Ravananugraha. The upper scene is Mount Kailash, where Shiva and Parvati are seated. Shiva is recognisable with a crown, and other characters are badly damaged. A portion of ascetic skeletal devotee Bhringi relief survives and he is seated near Shiva's feet. Near Shiva an outline of what may have been Ganesha and Kartikeya are visible. Below the mountain surface is shown the demon-king Ravana is seen with a few arms, trying to unsuccessfully shake Shiva and Parvati in Mount Kailash. The rest of the details are blurry and speculative. According to Charles Collins, the discernible elements of this panel are generally consistent with those in medieval era Puranas, though there is a lack in literal correspondence with any single text.

Linga shrine
The central shrine of the Great Cave temple is a free-standing square stone cella, with entrances on each of its sides. Each door is flanked by two dvarapalas (gate guardians), for a total of eight around the shrine. The height of the eight dvarapalas is about 4.6 m. All are in a damaged condition except those at the southern door to the shrine. The Shaiva guardians carry weapons and flank the doors.

Six steps lead to the inside of the cella from the floor level. In the centre is the mulavigraha Linga, is set on a raised platform above the floor of the shrine by 1.8 m. It is the abstract unmanifest symbol of Shiva in union with the Yoni, and the symbol of Parvati together symbolising the creative source and the regenerative nature of existence. The temple and all the pillars are laid out to lead the pilgrim's view towards it, the cella is visible from any point inside the cave and its most significant progression.

East wing: Shaktism
On the east side of the main hall is a separate shrine. It is a 17 m-wide courtyard with a circular pedestal. It once had a seated Nandi facing the Linga shrine, but its ruins have not been restored. To the south side of this eastern courtyard is the Shaktism shrine, with a lion, each seated with a raised forepaw as guardian. Inside the west face of this small shrine (see 10–12 of plan) are Sapta Matrikas, or the "seven mothers" along with Parvati, Kartikeya (Skanda) and Ganesha. The smaller shrine's sanctum features a linga and has a circumambulatory path around it. The sanctum door has Shaiva dvarapalas.

The Shakti panel in the east shrine is unusual in that counting Parvati, it features eight mothers (Asta matrikas) in an era when Sapta matrikas were more common such as at Samalaji and Jogeshwari caves. Additionally, the mothers are flanked on one side with Ganesha and the other with Skanda (Kartikeya) when typical artwork from mid 1st millennium show the Shakta mothers with Ganesha and Shiva. According to Sara L. Schastok, the Skanda in the east shrine of Elephanta Cave 1 is significant, just like the one found in Deogarh Hindu temple site, because he is depicted with regalia, weapons and icons similar to Shiva and because he is surrounded by gods and goddesses. By portraying Skanda with Matrikas, he is equated with the Krittikas legend and thereby Kartikeya, and by showing him so prominently centred the artists are likely communicating the unity of Skanda-Shiva, that all these divinities are in essence the same spiritual concept, "all emanations of the lingam at the very heart of Elephanta", according to Schastok.

West wing: Other traditions
On the west side of the main hall is another attached shrine, though in a much more ruined state. The larger cave on the south side of the west shrine is closed, contains ruins and is bigger than the eastern side shrine. Some of the artworks from here were moved to museums and private collections by mid 19th century, including those related to Brahma, Vishnu and others. The western face has two panels, one showing another version of Shiva in Yoga (see 14 on plan) and another Nataraja (see 15 on plan). Between these is a sanctum with a Shiva Linga.

This Yogi Shiva panel is damaged, but unlike the other Yogi depiction, here the leg position in Yoga asana has survived. The Yogishvara is seated on a lotus, and near him are two badly defaced characters, possibly one of Parvati and another ascetic. Above him are ruin remains of celestial gods or goddesses or apsaras. The Yogi Shiva is wearing a crown, and once again there is a space of isolation around the meditating yogi in which no other character enters. Below him, under the lotus, are Nagas and several badly damaged figures two of whom depict the anjali mudra. The Nataraja shown in the west shrine is similar in style to one inside the main mandapa. However, states Collins, its depth of carving appears inferior and it seems more eroded being more open to rains and water damage.

Caves 2-5: Canon hill
To the south-east of the Great Cave is Cave 2. The cave is unfinished. The front of this cave was completely destroyed and restored in the 1970s with four square pillars. It has two small cells in the back.

Cave 3 is next to Cave 2, as one continues to go away from the main shrine. It is a portico with six pillars, and a mandapa with pillars. The portico is 26 m long and 11 m deep and is supported by four reconstructed pillars. At the back of the portico are three chambers. The central door at the back of the portico leads to a damaged shrine, the sanctum seems to be for a Linga, but that is lost. The shrine is a plain room 6 m deep by 5.7 m wide with a low altar. The shrine door has some traces of sculpture. The dvarapalas on each side, leaning on dwarfs with flying figures over the head, are now in fragments. There are two other chambers, one on each side of the shrine.

Cave 4 is quite damaged, the large verandah lacking all its columns. The relief remains suggest the cave was once a Shaiva temple as well. The shrine in the back contains a lingam. There are also three cells for monks and a chapel at each end of the verandah.

Cave 5 is unfinished and in a very damaged state, with no artistic remains.

Stupa hill: caves 6-7, stupas 1-2
Across the ravine from Cave 1 on the hill on the other side are two Buddhist caves, together with the remains of a stupa and water tanks. It seems the Buddhists were the first occupants of the island.

One is a large hall known as Cave 6, or Sitabai's temple cave (18.96384°N, 72.93412°W). The portico has four pillars and two pilasters. The hall has 3 chambers at the back, the central one a shrine and the rest for monks or priests. The hall is devoid of any decoration, except for the door of the central shrine, which has pilasters and a frieze, with the threshold decorated with lion figures. The sanctum has no remaining image. Cave 6 is historically significant because it was converted and used as a Christian church by the Portuguese in the later years when the island was a part of their colony (at some point between 1534 and 1682).

Next, along the face of the eastern hill to the north of Sitabai's cave is Cave 7 (18.9651°N, 72.93477°W), another small excavation with a veranda, which was probably to be three cells, but was abandoned following the discovery of a flaw in the rock.

Past Cave 7, to the east, is a dry pond, with large artificial boulders and several Buddhist cisterns along its banks. Near the cistern, now at the end of the north spur of the hill, is a mound that was identified as the remains of a Buddhist stupa (18.96603°N, 72.93675°W). This stupa, state Michell and Dhavalikar, was originally much taller and dates to about the 2nd century BCE.

Lost monuments
Many artworks from the Elephanta Caves ruins are now held in major museums around India. These include an almost completely destroyed Durga statue with only the buffalo demon with Durga's legs and some waist surviving. Other scholarly studied museum held Elephanta sculpture includes a part of Brahma head, several ruins of Vishnu from different statues, a range of panels and free-standing stone carvings. According to Schastok, some of these are "surely not part of the Great Cave", but it is unclear where they were found when they were moved elsewhere, or when ruins were cleared and restoration process initiated.

The significant statues of Vishnu are difficult to explain and to position inside other surviving caves. One theory states that some of the caves must have represented the Vaishnavism tradition. Another theory by some scholars, such as Moti Chandra, suggests that the island once had open-air structural Hindu temples in addition to the caves, but these were the first victims of art destruction.

The Vishnu sculptures found among the Elephanta ruins express different styles. One wears a dhoti and has a looped girdle, while holding a conch at an angle near his thigh. The remnants of his sides suggest that this was likely a four arm iconography. Another statue has elements of Shiva and Vishnu. It was identified to be Shiva by Pramod Chandra, as Kartikeya by Moti Chandra, and as Vishnu by others. It shows a chain link near the thigh, has a gada (mace) on side, and someone standing next to him with a damaged upper portion but with a small waist and full breasts suggestive of a Devi. This statue too is wearing a dhoti.

The island also had a stone horse according to 18th century records, just like the stone elephant that made colonial Portuguese call it "Ilha Elefante". However, this horse was removed to an unknown location before 1764.

History
The ancient history of the island is unknown in both Hindu or Buddhist records. Archeological studies have uncovered many remains that suggest the small island had a rich cultural past, with evidence of human settlement by possibly the 2nd century BC. The Elephanta site was first occupied by Hinayana Buddhists, before the arrival of the Brahmans to the island, to raise a large stupa to the Buddha with seven smaller stupas around it, probably around the 2nd century BCE. Coins of the Kshatrapas (Western Satraps) dating to the 4th century CE were found on the island. The regional history is first recorded in the Gupta Empire era, but these do not explicitly mention these caves. This has made the origins and the century in which Elephanta caves were built a subject of a historic dispute. They have been variously dated, mostly between from late 5th to late 8th century AD, largely based on the dating of other cave temples in the Deccan region. Colonial era historians suggested that the caves were built by the Rashtrakutas in 7th century or after, a hypothesis primarily based on some similarities with the Ellora Caves, but this theory has been discredited by later findings.

According to Archaeological Survey of India and UNESCO, the site was settled in ancient times and the cave temples were built between 5th and 6th century. Contemporary scholars generally place the completion of the temples to the second quarter of the 6th century and as a continuation of the period of artistic flowering in the Gupta Empire era. These scholars attribute these Cave temples to king Krishnaraja of the Kalachuri dynasty. The dating to a mid 6th century completion and it being a predominantly Shiva monument built by a Hindu Kalachuri king is based on numismatic evidence, inscriptions, construction style and better dating of other Deccan cave temples including the Ajanta Caves, and the more firm dating of Dandin's Dasakumaracarita.

According to Charles Collins, the significance of the Elephanta Caves is better understood by studying them in the context of ancient and early medieval Hindu literature, as well as in the context of other Buddhist, Hindu and Jain cave temples on the subcontinent. The historic Elephanta artwork was inspired by the mythology, concepts and spiritual ideas found in the Vedic texts on Rudra and later Shiva, the epics, the Puranas and the Pashupata Shaivism literature corpus of Hinduism composed by the 5th-century. The panels reflect the ideas and stories widely accepted and well known to the artists and cave architects of India by about 525 CE. The mythology varies significantly in these texts and has been much distorted by later interpolations, but the Elephanta Cave panels represent the narrative version most significant in the 6th century. The panels and artwork express through their eclecticism, flux and motion the influence of Vedic and post-Vedic religious thought on Hindu culture in mid 1st millennium CE.

After the caves' completion in the 6th century, Elephanta became popular regionally as Gharapuri (village of caves). The name is still used in the local Marathi language. It became a part of the Gujarat Sultanate rulers, who ceded it to the Portuguese merchants in 1534. The Portuguese named the island "Elephanta Island" for the huge rock-cut stone statue of an elephant, the spot they used for docking their boats and as a landmark to distinguish it from other islands near Mumbai. The elephant statue was damaged in attempts to relocate it to England, was moved to the Victoria Gardens in 1864, was reassembled in 1914 by Cadell and Hewett, and now sits in the Jijamata Udyaan in Mumbai.

Scholars are divided on who most defaced and damaged the Elephanta Caves. According to Macneil, the monuments and caves were already desecrated during the Sultanate rule, basing his findings on the Persian inscription on a door the leads to the grand cave. In contrast, others such as Ovington and Pyke, link the greater damage to be from the Christian Portuguese soldiers and their texts which state they used the caves and statues as a firing range and for target practice.

Macneil concurs that Elephanta Caves were defaced and damaged during the colonial period, but assigns the responsibility not to the soldiers but to the Portuguese authorities. The colonial era British publications state they were "defaced by the zeal of Mahommedans and Portuguese".

The Portuguese ceded the island in 1661 to the colonial British, but by then the Caves had seen considerable damage. The Portuguese had also removed and then lost an inscription stone from the caves. During the British rule, many Europeans visited the caves during their visit to Bombay, then published their impressions and memoirs. Some criticised it as having "nothing of beauty or art", while some called it "enormous artwork, of extraordinary genius".

The British relied on the port city of Bombay (now Mumbai), which led to it becoming a major urban centre and the migration of Hindus looking for economic opportunities. The Elephanta caves re-emerged as a centre of Hindu worship, and according to British administration records, the government charged the pilgrims a temple tax at least since 1872.

In 1903, the Hindus petitioned the government to waive this fee, which the British agreed to on three Shiva festival days if Hindus agreed. The Elephants Caves were, otherwise, left in its ruinous condition.

In the late 1970s, the Government of India restored the main cave in its attempt to make it a tourist and heritage site. The caves were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 as per the cultural criteria of UNESCO: the caves "represent a masterpiece of human creative genius" and "bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilisation which is living or which has disappeared."

Preservation
The convenient location of these caves near Mumbai (in comparison to other sites that are less well served by Indian travel infrastructure) and Western curiosity for historic Indian culture made Elephanta Caves a subject of numerous guide books and significant scholarly interest in the 20th century. The early speculations and misconceptions about these caves led to many interpretations and scholarly disagreements but also increased the support for their preservation. The publication of their condition, sketches and interpretation by James Burgess in 1871 brought wider attention. The earliest efforts to preserve the Elephanta Caves were taken by British India officials in 1909 when the site was placed under the Indian Archaeological Department and the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act included it within its scope. This helped isolate the island and preserve the ruins.

More specific legislation to preserve the Elephanta Island monuments were enacted with the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act of 1958 and Rules (1959); The Elephanta Island (Protected Monument) Rules of 1957, which prohibits mining, quarrying, blasting, excavation and other operations near the monument; the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act promulgated in 1972 with its Rules promulgated in 1973; a Notification issued in 1985 declaring the entire island and a 1 km area from the shore as "a prohibited area"; a series of Maharashtra State Government environmental acts protecting the site; the 1966 Regional and Town Planning Act; and the 1995 Heritage Regulations for Greater Bombay. However, it was in the 1970s that the site received active conservation and restoration efforts. These efforts put back the ruins of Cave 1 and select parts of broken pillars in other caves, along with developing the island as a heritage site.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Aurangabad Circle maintains and manages the Elephanta Caves. It is responsible for monitoring and stabilisation of the rock face, construction of supports to the cave structures where pillars have collapsed, and consolidation of cave floors and construction of a parapet wall surrounding the site. In addition, it maintains the visitor facilities and an on-site museum. The site receives approximately 1,000 visitors a day, more on Shiva ratri, dance festivals, the World Heritage Day (18 April) and World Heritage Week between 19 and 25 November for special events.

After declaring the caves a World Heritage Site, UNESCO and the ASI have worked together to monitor the site and implement conservation methods on a routine basis.

In literature
In her 1834 poetical illustration The Caves of Elephanta, to an engraving of a painting by W. Purser, Letitia Elizabeth Landon laments the loss of the original spiritual purpose of this vast structure, so that now: 'The mighty shrine, undeified, speaks force, and only force, Man's meanest attribute'.

The Elephanta Caves are mentioned more than once in Herman Melville's Moby Dick, and also feature in Somerset Maugham's 1944 novel The Razor's Edge.

title: Elephanta Caves


text:
Aura, Finland

Aura is a municipality of Finland. The name derives from the river Aura and the plough (aura in Finnish) reminiscent shape of the municipality. The municipality was established in 1917 from parts of Lieto and Pöytyä.

It is part of the Varsinais-Suomi region. The municipality has a population of 0 and covers an area of undefined km2 of which undefined km2 is water. The population density is undefined PD/km2.

The municipality is unilingually Finnish.

Villages
In 1967, Aura had 23 legally recognized villages (henkikirjakylät):

 * Auvainen
 * Hypöinen
 * Ihava
 * Järvenoja
 * Järykselä
 * Kaerla
 * Karviainen
 * Kinnarla
 * Kuuskoski
 * Käetty
 * Lahto
 * Laukkaniitty
 * Leikola
 * Leinikkala
 * Leppäkoski
 * Paimala
 * Pitkäniitty
 * Prunkkala
 * Puho
 * Seppälä
 * Sikilä
 * Simola
 * Viilaila

History
The area was initially a part of the Lieto parish. A church was built in the village of Prunkkala in 1636, forming a new chapel community. In 1908, an order to separate Prunkkala from Lieto was made. The villages of Kuuskoski, Hypöinen, Viilala and Lahto were transferred to it from Pöytyä. The parish became fully independent in 1917 under the current name Aura, after the Aura train station and the community that had formed around it in the late 19th century.

Demographics
In 2020, 19.0% of the population of Aura was under the age of 15, 60.2% were aged 15 to 64, and 20.8% were over the age of 65. The average age was 42.0, under the national average of 43.4 and regional average of 44.0. Speakers of Finnish made up 96.8% of the population and speakers of Swedish made up 0.6%, while the share of speakers of foreign languages was 2.6%. Foreign nationals made up 2.1% of the total population.

The chart below, describing the development of the total population of Aura from 1975-2020, encompasses the municipality's area as of 2021.

Urban areas
In 2019, out of the total population of 3,941, 2,705 people lived in urban areas and 1,166 in sparsely populated areas, while the coordinates of 70 people were unknown. This made Aura's degree of urbanization 69.9%. The urban population in the municipality was divided between two urban areas as follows:

Economy
In 2018, 5.2% of the workforce of Aura worked in primary production (agriculture, forestry and fishing), 34.9% in secondary production (e.g. manufacturing, construction and infrastructure), and 57.6% in services. In 2019, the unemployment rate was 5.7%, and the share of pensioners in the population was 23.7%.

The ten largest employers in Aura in 2019 were as follows: • Municipality of Aura, 138 employees

• Reka Kumi Oy, 63 еmployees

• Turun Osuuskauppa, 55 employees

• Oy WW-Offshore Ab, 41 employees

• Aurajoki Oy, 40 employees

• Humana Hoiva Oy, 37 employees

• JPV-Engineering Oy, 31 employees

• Criminal Sanctions Agency, 30 employees

• Posti Oy, 28 employees

• Pilke päiväkodit Oy, 21 employees

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Aura, Finland


text:
Talk:Tamil literature

Literary works from Sri Lanka,Malaysia and other Tamil speaking regions
This page should also conatin literary works from all Tamil speaking countries.Currently it contains information only from Tamil Nadu. Hope somebody from these regions or who knows information regarding such works can add these information to this article.

Ok, found a source about Lankan Literary...
The earliest known Sri Lankan Tamil poet was Eelattu Poothanthevanar, whose poems were included in the Tamil cankam (sangam) poetry anthologies compiled in southern India before 250 ad. A distinctly Sri Lankan Tamil literary tradition first developed in the 1940s with the works of the so-called marumalarchi (renaissance) writers Mahakavi, A. Kandasamy, and Varadar.  User:Karooran

Modern Tamil Women Poets
Iam not sure if this is the right place to mention about emerging poets and their controversise. Tamil Literature is too broad a topic for such information. I think this needs to be moved to a more "appropriate page". -- Sanjeeth 09:17, 2 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * I agree with Sanjeeth. This is not the place to mention about the controversy. We have a lot to document about the Tamil Literature, not these menial issues.

-- SanthoshGuru 16:17, 25 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * The current article is nowhere near what is expected of it. We need better coverage for all the eras under all categories (poetry, prose, short stories etc), not a mere listing of works and authors. All these controversies can be put in a separate article like Controversies over Tamil literary works or Controversies with Tamil authors or some other better title. -- Sundar

Further development
This article requires a complete rewrite. Here is a very ambitious structure of what I think an 'ideal' article on Tamil literature would include:

 * Cankam literature Done for now, but this sub-topic should also have its own article with more detailed coverage
 * Overview
 * Tamil traditions about the three Cankams
 * The cankam corpus (ettuthokai, patthupáttu, tolkáppiyam)
 * Cankam poetics (the akam and puram tinais and their significance - illustrate with examples?)

 * Post-sangam literature (the padhinen kizhkanakku)
 * Thirukkural
 * Náladiyár
 * Brief description of the other works

 * Epic literature
 * Cilappathikáram and Manimékalai
 * Civakacinthámani
 * The lost epics
 * Perhaps also a bit about the Perunkathai and Culamani?

 * Early bhakti literature -- work in progress: expected completion 7 Feb
 * The nayanárs and the thirumurais
 * The ázhvárs and the náláyira thivya prapantham
 * Kambarámáyanam
 * Periya puránam

 * Later bhakti literature -- work in progress: expected completion 7 Feb
 * The tamil puranas (e.g. Kaccaiyappar's kanthapuranam)
 * Religious commentaries and the growth of religious Manipravalam literature
 * Arunakirináthár
 * Non-hindu religious literature (e.g., cirappuránam, tempávani)

 * Folk-inspired and social literature (the cittars, Tháyumánavar, Pattinatthar, Ramalinka svamikal, Gopalakrishna Bharati, thiruvilaiyátal, kurava songs, parani, ulá, thúthu poetry, etc.)

 * Modern literature
 * The birth of the Tamil novel and the Tamil short story (should include Vetanayakam Pillai, Rajam Aiyyar, VVS, and Kalki)
 * Bharatiyar's marumalarcci natai and its impact
 * The "pure Tamil" movement and its effect (is the puthu manipravala natai even worth mentioning?)
 * Puthumaipitthan and the Manikkoti movement
 * Tamil women's literature
 * Contemporary literature (Jayakanthan, Ramatirthan...)
 * Tamil emigrant literature

 * Sri Lankan Tamil literature
 * Early evidences of Sri Lankan Tamil Literature
 * Tamil Literature during Jaffna Kingdom Period (13th century - 1620 AD)
 * Early Colonial rule and Tamil Literature in Sri Lanka (1620 - 1796 AD)
 * Tamil Literature during British rule (1796 - 1948 AD)
 * Post Independent phase (1948 and after)

Feel free to edit this list as you like - and especially to say which bits you think you can take primary responsibility for. We can probably also draw on some of the people who write for the Tamil wikipedia. As you can see, this whole thing will probably be too big for one article. We could perhaps just write summaries of some of these sections for now, but they should ultimately be fleshed out in their own articles, if not here.

To get started, I'll write and post a draft of the Cankam literature section this weekend. - Arvind 15:50, 28 Jan 2005 (UTC)

 * Good work, Arvind. A humongous project indeed. Let's pool in our resources and make it. -- Sundar 05:27, Jan 31, 2005 (UTC)

 * Arvind, I saw your note in my talk page. I will contribute on the Tamil literature of Sri Lanka. Further, there evolves a whole new type of expatriate Tamil literature through the Sri Lankan Tamils now living in many Western Europeon countries, Canada, Australia and other places. The Tamil literature is becomming familier with a new set of situations and contexts through them. We can mention about this too. Mayooranathan 17:58, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Use a consistent system of spelling
I suggest that all pages on Tamil in Wiki use a consistent system of spelling. The best would be to use the Tamil Lexicon system which has the advantage of being consistent with other Indian alphabets. For example we will have Pāratiyār, Cilappatikāram etc.

 * Hi there. That's exactly what I've tried to do in my ongoing rewrite of this article - take a look at the Caṅkam literature section.  We do need to agree on a set of transliteration guidelines, though - I'm working on a set of draft guidelines for the nynorsk wikipedia at the moment and I was planning to translate them into English and put them up for discussion when I was done, but that'll take time so if you'd like to take it up please go ahead.  Where I've gotten stuck is on the system of transcription to use for article titles - we can't use ā, ṭ, ṅ and other such characters there.  If anyone has any suggestions, I'd be glad to hear them. -- Arvind 12:47, 2 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * For the article titles, use the forms of the letters ā, ṭ, ṅ etc. without the diacritics, so you have Paratiyar instead of Pāratiyār, etc. This isn't ideal, but that's the general Wikipedia solution for special characters that can't be included in article titles due to technical reasons. For instance, the page on Lech Wałęsa is at Lech Walesa. Any other solution would probably confuse those not familiar with Tamil. Good luck, --Iceager 16:23, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Seeraappuranam
There is no mention of Omaruppulavar's epic Seeraappuranam which details the biography of Prophet Muhammed. This is an important example of ancient Tamil Muslim scholarship. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.202.96.95 (talk • contribs)

 * The article does mention this book Parthi talk/contribs 22:40, 27 April 2007 (UTC)

Akilam
Venu, Perhaps Akilam may be one among the largest (by a single author) works in Tamil. Then it may be the best narrative ballad to tell right from creation to the end(similar to Bagavatham I think) which was somethig unusuall in Hindu History. It also seems that it includes Mahabaratha and Ramayana, kanda Purana within itself. So it is definitely notable. - white dot...!!! 15:09, 10 August 2007 (UTC)
 * We have been through this numerous times. Ayyaavazhi is not a notable religion. It is not known outside the three southern districts of Tamil nadu. Can you find 'Indipendent' sources to support your claim about Akilam? Until you do so, this is not to be included in a summary article that spans over two thousand years of Tamil literature. - Parthi talk/contribs 19:49, 10 August 2007 (UTC)

 * I don't bother whether Ayyavazhi is notable as a religion or not. And Pls explain this, "It is not known outside the three southern districts of Tamil nadu."

 * Also the topic under Ahilam is placed is "narrative epic". Akilam is 'narrative' and is an 'epic'. It's not matter how much years it spans and all.

 * For me, Akilattiretu is also a Hindu Scripture among others. But one thing it seems to give a good narrative line; and it seems to give place for all complex ideas in Hinduism which was rare in other texts.Also I came to know from some discussions that it contains more than 15000 lines and the largest balled etc. So I added it here. Any way as you told let me try to find some independent sources to support all these. Thanks.

white dot...!!! 15:35, 12 August 2007 (UTC)

 * Lalu, please see the policies of WP:UNDUE and WP:RS before adding the Akilam again. Note that statements such as is one of the greatest works in modern times are incredibly POV and have no place in Wikipedia. GizzaDiscuss  © 03:47, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

 * Okey, Sorry. It may be because of my impression over it. I accept to tone down the sentence. Do you have any preferences? white dot...!!! 14:42, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

WikiProject Dravidian civilizations
Wiki Raja 10:21, 14 October 2007 (UTC)

Concerns
This article has serious lapses in sourcing. Much of the article is simply without any sourcing whatsoever. I was also able to spot some WP:PEACOCK also thought I havent looked very closely at the article yet. There are several content issues also that need to be taken care of. Before that however, i feel that this article should be rewritten from scratch. Sarvagnya 17:30, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
 * You "havent(sic) looked very closely at the article yet", but you "feel that this article should be rewritten from scratch." Great! I've removed all the tags you added except PEACOCK as the others were downright inaccurate. Nofootnotes when there are inline citations actually. Moreover, that tag is not meant to be placed on the top of the article. -- Sundar \talk \contribs 07:27, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

In addition, I'd be grateful if whoever added the verification tags to the various quotes could clarify exactly what it is they're looking for verification of. The tags by themselves aren't much help. -- Arvind (talk) 10:33, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

 * Hi, Arvind I added that tag. Providing a citation is good, but here it cites a translation of a vernacular poem which may need additional verification. Perhaps multiple citations asserting the same translation would help. As such the article is poorly cited, furhter raising doubts about the contents as a whole. Just my thoughts.Dineshkannambadi (talk) 13:59, 24 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Dinesh, you'll never find two translators who translate a poem in the same way. If they did, they'd be plagiarising and possibly breaching copyright.  You're asking for the impossible.  Ramanujan himself has produced at least three different translations of the first poem here.
 * As for the article being poorly cited, well, it's a B-class article (and barely makes it into that class). You've been particularly productive when it comes to producing featured articles, but the quality of the content relating to Kannada / Karnataka is by no means typical of Wikipedia content. The bulk of Wikipedia's content is B-class or worse.  This article is no worse than the typical article - and thus shouldn't raise any more doubts as to its contents than the typical article. If there are any facts you find particularly surprising - for instance, that raise an WP:REDFLAG, feel free to bring them up.  -- Arvind (talk) 08:03, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Thanks for removing the tag, Dinesh. Your comment about the need for a well-cited article is spot on, though - I would dearly love to see this move up to featured quality.  It's something I've been thinking about on and off.  The real trick is to figure out a structure that will make it an article about Tamil literature as a whole, rather than simply a chronological account of Tamil literature.  -- Arvind (talk) 10:53, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

Eelam Contributors
"Contributors to the Tamil literature mainly were Tamil people from Tamil Nadu, however there have been notable contributions from European authors."

The statment does not credit Eelam Tamils who have contributed immensely to Tamil literature since ancient times. Also, it does not acknowledge the Diaspora contributions (Malaysia, Singapore, Europe, Canada), since their contributions add different elements to Tamil literature. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.158.186.177 (talk) 17:19, 10 November 2008 (UTC)

 * I agree with your comment. Many contributors of the Tamil literature mainly were Tamil people from Tamil Nadu, and there have been notable contributions from European authors. So I just created a page Tamil Linguists in order to add notable contributors.Arvind Arokara (talk) 23:24, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

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Kurraala kuravanji
Tamil kutralam kuravanji 203.189.184.164 (talk) 10:56, 14 November 2022 (UTC)
 * Yes, a new article needs to be created on this topic. Rasnaboy (talk) 11:47, 14 November 2022 (UTC)

title: Talk:Tamil literature


text: User talk:204.134.9.1

title: User talk:204.134.9.1


text:
Yajna

Yajna (यज्ञ, ) in Hinduism refers to any ritual done in front of a sacred fire, often with mantras. Yajna has been a Vedic tradition, described in a layer of Vedic literature called Brahmanas, as well as Yajurveda. The tradition has evolved from offering oblations and libations into sacred fire to symbolic offerings in the presence of sacred fire (Agni).

Yajna rituals-related texts have been called the Karma-kanda (ritual works) portion of the Vedic literature, in contrast to the Jnana-kanda (knowledge) portion found in the Vedic Upanishads. The proper completion of Yajna-like rituals was the focus of Mimansa school of Hindu philosophy. Yajna have continued to play a central role in a Hindu's rites of passage, such as weddings. Modern major Hindu temple ceremonies, Hindu community celebrations, or monastic initiations may also include Vedic Yajna rites, or alternatively be based on Agamic rituals.

Etymology
The word yajna (यज्ञ) has its root in the Sanskrit yaj meaning 'to worship, adore, honour, revere' and appears in the early Vedic literature, composed in 2nd millennium BCE. In Rigveda, Yajurveda (itself a derivative of this root) and others, it means "worship, devotion to anything, prayer and praise, an act of worship or devotion, a form of offering or oblation, and sacrifice". In post-Vedic literature, the term meant any form of rite, ceremony or devotion with an actual or symbolic offering or effort.

A yajna included major ceremonial devotions, with or without a sacred fire, sometimes with feasts and community events. It has, states Nigal, a threefold meaning of worship of the deities (devapujana), unity (sangatikarana) and charity (dána).

The Sanskrit word is related to the Avestan term yasna of Zoroastrianism. Unlike the Vedic yajna, however, the Yasna is the name of a specific religious service, not a class of rituals, and they have "to do with water rather than fire". The Sanskrit word is further related to Ancient Greek ἅζομαι (házomai), "to revere", deriving from the Proto-Indo-European root *Hyeh₂ǵ- ("to worship").

History
Yajna has been a part of an individual or social ritual since Vedic times. When the ritual fire – the divine Agni, the god of fire and the messenger of gods – was deployed in a Yajna, mantras were chanted. The hymns and songs sung and oblations offered into the fire were a form of hospitality towards the Vedic gods. The offerings were believed to be carried by Agni to the gods; the gods in return were expected to grant boons and benedictions, and thus the ritual served as a means of spiritual exchange between gods and human beings. The Vedangas, or auxiliary sciences attached to the Vedic literature, define Yajna as follows:

 Definition of a Vedic sacrifice Yajña, sacrifice, is an act by which we surrender something for the sake of the gods. Such an act must rest on a sacred authority (āgama), and serve for man's salvation (śreyortha). The nature of the gift is of less importance. It may be cake (puroḍāśa), pulse (karu), mixed milk (sāṃnāyya), an animal (paśu), the juice of soma-plant (soma), etc; nay, the smallest offerings of butter, flour, and milk may serve for the purpose of a sacrifice. — Apastamba Yajna Paribhasa-sutras 1.1, Translator: M Dhavamony

In the Upanishadic times, or after 500 BCE, states Sikora, the meaning of the term Yajna evolved from "ritual sacrifice" performed around fires by priests, to any "personal attitude and action or knowledge" that required devotion and dedication. The oldest Vedic Upanishads, such as the Chandogya Upanishad (~700 BCE) in Chapter 8, for example state,

 अथ यद्यज्ञ इत्याचक्षते ब्रह्मचर्यमेव तद्ब्रह्मचर्येण ह्येव यो ज्ञाता तं विन्दतेऽथ यदिष्टमित्याचक्षते ब्रह्मचर्यमेव तद्ब्रह्मचर्येण ह्येवेष्ट्वात्मानमनुविन्दते ॥ १ ॥

What is commonly called Yajna is really the chaste life of the student of sacred knowledge, for only through the chaste life of a student does he who is a knower find that, What is commonly called Istam (sacrificial offering) is really the chaste life of the student of sacred knowledge, for only having searched with chaste life of a student does one find Atman (Soul, Self) || 1 || — Chandogya Upanishad 8.5.1

The later Vedic Upanishads expand the idea further by suggesting that Yoga is a form of Yajna (devotion, sacrifice). The Shvetashvatara Upanishad in verse 1.5.14, for example, uses the analogy of Yajna materials to explain the means to see one's soul and God, with inner rituals and without external rituals. It states, "by making one's own body as the lower friction sticks, the syllable Om as the upper friction sticks, then practicing the friction of meditation, one may see the Deva who is hidden, as it were".

Changing nature of Vedic offerings
The nature of Vedic sacrifice and rituals evolved over time, with major changes during the 1st millennium BCE, changes that influenced concepts later adopted by other traditions such as Buddhism. Early Vedic period sacrifices involved animal sacrifice, but the rituals were progressively reinterpreted over time, substituting the offerings and making it non-violent or symbolic, with the superiority of knowledge and celebration of sound of mantra replacing the physical offerings. Ultimately, the external rituals were reformulated and replaced with "internal oblations performed within the human body". These ideas of substitution, evolution from external actions (karma-kanda) to internal knowledge (jñana-kanda), were highlighted in many rituals-related sutras, as well as specialized texts such as the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (~800 BCE), Chandogya Upanishad, Kaushitaki Upanishad and Pranagnihotra Upanishad.

The Vedic text Satapatha Brahmana defines a sacrifice as an act of abandonment of something one holds of value, such as oblations offered to god and dakshina (fees, gifts) offered during the yajna. For gifts and fees, the text recommends giving cows, clothing, horses or gold. The oblations recommended are cow milk, ghee (clarified butter), seeds, grains, flowers, water and food cakes (rice cake, for example). Similar recommendations are repeated in other texts, such as in the Taittiriya Shakha 2.10 of the Krishna Yajurveda).

Tadeusz Skorupski states that these sacrifices were a part of ritual way of life, and considered to have inherent efficacy, where doing these sacrifices yielded repayment and results without the priests or gods getting involved. These Vedic ideas, adds Skorupski, influenced "the formulation of Buddhist theory of generosity". Buddhist ideas went further, criticizing "the Brahmins for their decadence and failure to live in conformity with the Brahmanic legacy of the ancient Brahmins", who claimed the Vedic ancients "lived in self restraint, were ascetics, had no cattle, no gold, and no wealth". The Buddha sought return to more ancient values, states Tadeusz Skorupski, where the Vedic sages "had study as their grain and wealth, guarded the holy life as their treasure, praised morality, austerity and nonviolence; they performed sacrifices consisting of rice, barley and oil, but they did not kill the cows".

Yajamana
In Vedic rituals, the sacrifice is offered by a patron known as the yajamana. Commonly translated as "sacrificer", yajamana doesn't personally perform the sacrifice but rather hires priests for it. The yajamana acts as the patron, and the sacrifice is conducted for his benefit.

Priests
Vedic (Shrauta) yajnas are typically performed by four priests of the Vedic priesthood: the hota, the adhvaryu, the udgata and the Brahma. The functions associated with the priests were:
 * The Hota recites invocations and litanies drawn from the Rigveda. He use three Rig verses, the introductory verse, the accompanying verse and benediction as the third.
 * The Adhvaryu is the priest's assistant and is in charge of the physical details of the ritual like measuring the ground, building the altar explained in the Yajurveda. The adhvaryu offers oblations.
 * The Udgata is the chanter of hymns set to melodies and music (sāman) drawn from the Samaveda. The udgatar, like the hota, chants the introductory, accompanying and benediction hymns.
 * The Brahma is the superintendent of the entire performance, and is responsible for correcting mistakes by means of supplementary verses taken from the Atharva Veda.

Offerings and style

The central element of all Vedic sacrifices is the ritual fire, which is essential regardless of the complexity of the ceremony. Three ritual fires are traditionally used during a Vedic sacrifice. These are the householder's fire (garhapatya), the southern fire (anvaharyapacana or daksinagni), and the offertorial fire (ahavaniya). Oblations are offered into the fire. Among the ingredients offered as oblations in the yajna are ghee, milk, grains, cakes and soma. The duration of a yajna depends on its type, some last only a few minutes whereas others are performed over a period of hours, days or even months. Some yajnas were performed privately, while others were community events. In other cases, yajnas were symbolic, such as in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad hymn 3.1.6, where "the mind is the Brahmin of sacrifice" and the goal of sacrifice was complete release and liberation (moksha).

The blessings offered ranged from long life, gaining friends, health and heaven, more prosperity, to better crops. For example,

"May my rice plants and my barley, and my beans and my sesame, and my kidney-beans and my vetches, and my pearl millet and my proso millet, and my sorghum and my wild rice, and my wheat and my lentils, prosper by sacrifice (Yajna)."

- Shukla Yajurveda 18.12

Yajnas, where milk products, fruits, flowers, cloth and money are offered, are called homa or havan.

Types
Kalpa Sutras list the following yajna types:
 * Pāka-yajñās: — Aṣtaka, sthālipāka, parvana, srāvaṇi, āgrahayani, caitri, and āsvīyuji. These yajñās involve consecrating cooked items.
 * Soma-yajñās: — Agnistoma, atyajnistoma, uktya, shodasi, vājapeya, atirātra, and aptoryama are the seven soma-yajñās.
 * Havir-yajñās: — Agniyādhāna, agnihotra, darśa-pūrṇamāsa, āgrayana, cāturmāsya, niruudha paśu bandha, sautrāmaṇi. These involve offering havis or oblations.
 * Pañca-mahā-yajñās: — The "five great yajnas" or mahāsattras. (See below.)
 * Veda-vrātas: — They are four in number and done during Vedic education.
 * Sixteen yajñās performed during one-time samskāras: garbhādhānā, pumsavana, sīmanta, jātakarma, nāmakaraṇa, annaprāśana, chudākarma / caula, niskramana, karnavedha, vidyaarambha, upanayana, keshanta, snātaka and vivāha, nisheka, antyeshti. These are specified by the Gṛhya Sūtrās.

Methods
The Vedic yajna ritual is performed in the modern era on a square altar called Vedi (Bedi in Nepal), set in a mandapa or mandala or kundam, wherein wood is placed along with oily seeds and other combustion aids. However, in ancient times, the square principle was incorporated into grids to build large complex shapes for community events. Thus a rectangle, trapezia, rhomboids or "large falcon bird" altars would be built from joining squares. The geometric ratios of these Vedi altar, with mathematical precision and geometric theorems, are described in Shulba Sutras, one of the precursors to the development of mathematics in ancient India. The offerings are called Samagri (or Yajāka, Istam). The proper methods for the rites are part of Yajurveda, but also found in Riddle Hymns (hymns of questions, followed by answers) in various Brahmanas. When multiple priests are involved, they take turns as in a dramatic play, where not only are praises to gods recited or sung, but the dialogues are part of a dramatic representation and discussion of spiritual themes.

"The Vedic sacrifice (yajna) is presented as a kind of drama, with its actors, its dialogues, its portion to be set to music, its interludes, and its climaxes."

- Louis Renou

The Brahmodya Riddle hymns, for example, in Shatapatha Brahmana's chapter 13.2.6, is a yajna dialogue between a Hotri priest and a Brahmin priest, which would be played out during the yajna ritual before the attending audience.

"Who is that is born again? It is the moon that is born again. And what is the great vessel?   The great vessel, doubtless, is this world. Who was the smooth one?   The smooth one, doubtless, was the beauty (Sri, Lakshmi). What is the remedy for cold?   The remedy for cold, doubtless, is fire."

- Shatapatha Brahmana

During weddings
Agni and yajna play a central role in Hindu weddings. A typical Hindu marriage involves a Yajna, with Agni being considered the witness of the marriage. Various mutual promises between the bride and groom are made in front of the fire, and the marriage is completed by an actual or symbolic walk around the fire. The wedding ritual of Panigrahana, for example, is the 'holding the hand' ritual as a symbol of their impending marital union, and the groom announcing his acceptance of responsibility to four deities: Bhaga signifying wealth, Aryama signifying heavens/milky way, Savita signifying radiance/new beginning, and Purandhi signifying wisdom. The groom faces west, while the bride sits in front of him with her face to the east, he holds her hand while the Rig vedic mantra is recited in the presence of fire.

The Saptapadi (Sanskrit for seven steps/feet), is the most important ritual in Hindu weddings, and represents the legal part of Hindu marriage. The couple getting married walks around the Holy Fire (Agni), and the yajna fire is considered a witness to the vows they make to each other. In some regions, a piece of clothing or sashes worn by the bride and groom are tied together for this ceremony. Each circuit around the fire is led by either the bride or the groom, varying by community and region. Usually, the bride leads the groom in the first circuit. The first six circuits are led by the bride, and the final one by the groom. With each circuit, the couple makes a specific vow to establish some aspect of a happy relationship and household for each other. The fire altar or the Yajna Kunda is square.

Publications

 * Agrawala, Vasudeva Sharana. India as known to Pāṇini: a study of the cultural material in the Ashṭādhyāyī. Prithvi Prakashan, 1963.
 * Dallapiccola Anna. Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend.......ISBN 0-500-51088-1.
 * Gyanshruti; Srividyananda. Yajna A Comprehensive Survey. Yoga Publications Trust, Munger, Bihar, India; 1st edition (December 1, 2006). ISBN 8186336478.
 * Krishnananda (Swami). A Short History of Religious and Philosophic Thought in India. Divine Life Society, Rishikesh.
 * Nigal, S.G. Axiological Approach to the Vedas. Northern Book Centre, 1986. ISBN 81-85119-18-X.
 * Prasoon, (Prof.) Shrikant. Indian Scriptures. Pustak Mahal (August 11, 2010). ISBN 978-81-223-1007-8.
 * Vedananda (Swami). Aum Hindutvam: (daily Religious Rites of the Hindus). Motilal Banarsidass, 1993. ISBN 81-20810-81-3.

title: Yajna


text:
User talk:Arseni

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 * I agree with the deletion, as I don't remember where I took it from: it was too long ago. Thanks for noticing this fact! Arseni (talk) 14:18, 24 November 2008 (UTC)

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Sergei Anatolyevich Starostin
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Copy-and-paste page moves
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Kola Peninsula
Hi, Arseny! I have just finished expanding the Kola Peninsula article and nominated it for GA. Since you are the article's original author, would you be interested in reviewing/correcting/copyediting and possibly expanding it? Or, if after reading it, you have any comments or suggestions, I'd be delighted to hear them as well. If not, that's fine, too. Cheers,—Ëzhiki (Igels Hérissonovich Ïzhakoff-Amursky) • (yo?); January 14, 2011; 18:51 (UTC)

Starostin
Nothing silly about this question. Move requests usually sit for at least seven days before being closed. After seven days, a notification will pop up in an appropriate queue and some admin will close the request (I can't close it myself because I !voted). You don't need to do anything, just wait; it'll be taken care of in a few days. Cheers,—Ëzhiki (Igels Hérissonovich Ïzhakoff-Amursky) • (yo?); January 18, 2011; 18:01 (UTC)

Autopatrolled
Hello, this is just to let you know that I have granted you the "autopatrolled" permission. This won't affect your editing, it just automatically marks any page you create as patrolled, benefiting new page patrollers. Please remember:
 * This permission does not give you any special status or authority
 * Submission of inappropriate material may lead to its removal
 * You may wish to display the Autopatrolled top icon and/or the User wikipedia/autopatrolled userbox on your user page
 * If, for any reason, you decide you do not want the permission, let me know and I can remove it
 * If you have any questions about the permission, don't hesitate to ask. Otherwise, happy editing! HJ Mitchell |  Penny for your thoughts?   05:17, 28 January 2011 (UTC)

 * Thank you for your permission! The only problem is that I have just migrated to new account User:khakhalin, as this account is not global, and can't made be global (there are other people with this name in other wikipedias), so I could not use Wikimedia Commons with it, etc. And it was already impossible to merge the account, as I've created this new User:khakhalin account for Wikimedia. A complicated story. But in any case, I won't edit under this account anymore. If you can grant your permission to User:khakhalin - it would be great. If it is not possible, OK, I guess, sooner or later it would happen again, and new page patrollers would benefit =) Thank you once again! Arseni (talk) 16:03, 28 January 2011 (UTC)

File source problem with File:Kolomenskoe derevo.jpg
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 * Hi! This file should have been deleted 2 years ago already. It is my file, but there's no point in saving it from deletion, as the resolution is extremely low, and a lot of much better files appeared in the Wikimedia since then. Thank you for noticing that the thing is not deleted so far! Khakhalin (talk) 12:05, 28 February 2011 (UTC)

Nomination of Votes for deletion
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Good article reassessment for Long-term potentiation
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title: User talk:Arseni


text:
Talk:Obduction

Obduction vs Subduction
What's the hell difference between obduction and subduction? (preceeding comment unsigned and of unknown age, presumably before 7 October 2010)
 * Obduction is the process by which oceanic crust is emplaced (basically dumped) onto the continental crust, subduction is the 'standard' end for most oceanic crust, where it is brought down into the mantle and recycled.Jackdann88 (talk) 13:34, 7 October 2010 (UTC)

Would it be correct to say that say that obduction involves continental crust being subducted below oceanic crust?DubleH (talk) 03:09, 21 August 2021 (UTC) Or does the oceanic crust/lithosphere often get shoved somewhere in the middle of the continental plate, between layers?DubleH (talk) 03:18, 21 August 2021 (UTC)

Rewrite for clarity
I found the previous version to be inconsistent and essentially unreadable. Hopefully I have improved. More work needed.Vsmith 02:30, 4 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * would it be valuable to have a 'cartoon' of how an ophiolite is emplaced? I found it easier to understand when someone drew a picture!Jackdann88 (talk) 13:35, 7 October 2010 (UTC)
 * What's missing is a general sense of what is going on. There is a lot of geologic jargon but it does not seem to connect to present the concept. The etymologies of the English words selected by the geological flying fickle finger of fate are usually a clue to the geological special meaning. For example, subduction means that one thing is "led under" another. Obduction is a "leading up against" where one land mass does not go under another, but is emplaced against it joining the two. So, if someone could write it according to the general sense that would be a big improvement. What's the matter, are you afraid of a little criticism? Cat got your tongue?Botteville (talk) 09:24, 8 February 2021 (UTC)

Images up for deletion
I've nominated the images used in this article for deletion, because they are copyrighted to Elsevier. I will try to come up with some simple cartoons to replace them, but it may take a while. Mikenorton (talk) 18:46, 2 February 2013 (UTC)

There is a simple means to overcome copyrighted drawings and that is to draw it yourself and reverse the image, put your own annotation on it - after all we all have to draw images and if you draw it it is up to you if you publish and a way round any possible query is to add a note "Based on a drawing / image in ....." and then add "Drawn by your name"The Geologist (talk) 12:19, 3 February 2013 (UTC)

I've removed the "see fig **" bits as the referenced images have been deleted. Vsmith (talk) 21:11, 1 February 2014 (UTC)

Reference problems
The references are all from 1971 -76 and thus rather dated. Also the "Dewey, J. F., 1975" ref has an "(in press)" note attached ... seems problematic. I've also removed the 1969 McKenzie ref as it says nothing re: obduction and predates the concept. Vsmith (talk) 21:11, 1 February 2014 (UTC)

Diagrams needed
Some diagrams are needed in this article to illustrate the processes. Fig (talk) 16:59, 4 September 2014 (UTC)

Requested move 8 August 2019

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: Not moved. Consensus is against moving this page. (non-admin closure) – Ammarpad (talk) 09:42, 15 August 2019 (UTC)

Obduction → Obduction (geology) – The geology article is no longer the WP:PRIMARYTOPIC. Obduction (video game) consistently gets |Obduction over three times the page views, and is more developed with more sources. Additional question: Should Obduction be a disambiguation page, or should the video game article be considered the primary topic? I'm conflicted on that. WanderingWanda (talk) 01:14, 8 August 2019 (UTC)
 * Oppose Contemporary topics (like the video game) should not displace long-standing scientific topics or the like. The hatnote system is fine for editors to find the video game article. Changing the name just doubles the effort for those trying to find the geology article. --M asem (t) 01:26, 8 August 2019 (UTC)
 * Oppose. WP:PRIMARYTOPIC states that "Wikipedia has no single criterion for defining a primary topic". Although one commonly used criterion is indeed usage (i.e. popularity), another commonly used WP:PRIMARYTOPIC criterion is "long-term significance if it has substantially greater enduring notability and educational value than any other topic associated with that term", which definitely favours this geological article as the primary article not the video game article. Therefore, it is not yet possible to decide which article should be the primary article, and consensus must be found before making any changes to article names.
 * As far as source reference citations are concerned, I and WP:RELIABLE favour quality over quantity. The geology article's sources are peer-reviewed academic journal articles; the video game article's sources are mostly gaming hobby magazine articles. Google Scholar lists 21,500 academic articles about geological obduction, so adding text and sources to the geological article on Wikipedia is only a matter of editors' time and effort, not a problem of non-existence of sources.
 * I think that a disambiguation page is not needed because there seem to be only the geology and the video game article with "obduction" in their title, so I think hatnotes are enough. Also, I notice when I do a search in Wikipedia, both articles are listed in the drop down search box and it seems very easy to just select the appropriate article — GeoWriter (talk) 16:11, 10 August 2019 (UTC)

 * Oppose - I don't think that anyone would suggest that the geology article couldn't be improved, but that's a matter of time and effort by editors, not due to a lack of high-quality sources as GeoWriter says above. I don't see a problem here, so let's not fix what isn't broken. Mikenorton (talk) 19:07, 10 August 2019 (UTC)

 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Misleading image of subduction showing an accretionary wedge
After adding the image Subduction-en.svg to the French version of this page, it was promptly removed by User:Géodigital, an editor with an education in geology and a good knowledge in the field of plate tectonic. During our discussion about the reason of this suppression, he kindly explained me why this diagram is incorrect and misleading: hereafter, as a feedback for Wikipedia English, a translation of part of our discussion in the French language (quote).

"'Obduction occurs when the stresses are reversed during continental collision (Alpine model) or by the covering of a continental block driven by an oceanic lithosphere in subduction (New Caledonia). But in both cases the illustration and its legend invoking the accretionary wedge of a subduction is wrong. The basic error appearing in the introduction of this article is to relate the process of obduction to the formation of the accretionary wedge which takes place during an oceanic subduction. Moreover, the majority of the cited references do not mention this process. The use of a figure presenting a subduction zone is therefore misleading and does not conform to scientific knowledge which suggests that the obduction processes take place after the phase of oceanic subduction.' (translation of a part of our discussions in French (source: Discussion utilisateur:Géodigital#Obduction : retrait de la figure Subduction-fr2.svg))."

So, the contents of the page on obduction, and especially its introduction mentioning an accretionary wedge, need to be corrected taking into account the comment of User:Géodigital. Does someone know a better figure that could replace the present one (Subduction-en.svg)? A sad, but logical, alternative would be to simply remove this nice but misleading image (showing an accretionary wedge) from the page, even if this image was a finalist in Picture of the Year 2017 and was also selected as picture of the day on Wikimedia Commons for 4 March 2019. What do you think? Best regards, Shinkolobwe (talk) 22:46, 23 October 2022 (UTC)

title: Talk:Obduction