How could I even look at you?
Your magnificent mountain of stone carved
Beautifully into emotions
I could only bow down at you
But your sculptures’ held me up
The glint in their halted eyes
Spoke a lot
They had stories of boldness and shyness
Of love and hatred
Of fantasy and reality.
Yet it’s all muddled up
In my camera’s capture.
Almost a year back I stumbled upon the chance to visit the enormous Ellora caves. By stumbled I mean grabbed an opportunity to go there despite my busy work schedules. It was an enjoyable six-hour journey to and fro organized by Pathil, a heritage tourism company. The travel which took a toll on my health the next day, but nevertheless it was worth the trouble
The artist is the creator of beautiful things. To reveal art and conceal the artist is art’s aim. The critic is he who can translate into another manner or a new material his impression of beautiful things.
There are thirty-four caves in total. I won’t get into the details of each and every cave as you will easily find that information in books or on the web. But I bet that they won’t tell you about the feelings one goes through just by staring. Those emotions were enacted wonderfully by Dr. Rahul Deshpande an expert Indologist. One should visit Ellora caves only with him. The sculptures come alive when he is around them. I was lucky enough to have seen some of the caves through his perspective.
Out of thirty-four caves, our group comprising of twenty-one over-enthusiastic heritage lovers visited five caves in total over a span of two days. We spent about an hour or two or in each and every cave. No I am not exaggerating that time. And no it’s not boring. Yes, it does get a bit tiring. But hey who are we to complain as we look up at the sculptures beautifully craved in the celling. All we can do is, sit below it with respect.
Each panel in every cave had a story to tell from centuries ago. Stories that we should be proud of. Stories that mold us into the people we are. Stories that hit us hard on our faces with a peck of kiss here and there. Stories that make us change our current selves. Stories that are layered away in the darkness of history. Stories that should be passed on from one generation to another. Stories that are relevant in each and every era yet forgotten.
I felt proud as well as ashamed of myself after visiting the Ellora caves. Proud of being born in the country where such marvelous structures exist and ashamed of not paying homage to them earlier
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