Mahabalipuram. Arjuna's Penance. Detail with temple.
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Photographer: Arthur Llewellyn Basham
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Abstract
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Along the river bank, to the left of our slide, is the detail beginning the story of the Mahabalipuram sculptures: Arjuna meditating beside the temple of Siva and seeking help in washing away the impurities of the earth. The little shrine, executed in an early Pallava architectural style, contains an image of the god just as it would on its true scale and in actual public service. This immediate area of the sculpture and that composing the central portion, showing the Naga King ascending the symbolic river, are the central focus of the entire monument. On either side of this section, the general organization is relatively rudimentary and does not arrange the figures in any complex fashion aside from simple rows. Siva's shrine is an earth-bound tableau while the rest of the stone is covered with the magical events occurring after his prayer is answered.
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Archives Series
Basham Collection
Date created
circa 1970s
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This item is provided for research purposes. Contact the Australian National University Archives at butlin.archives@anu.edu.au for permission to use.
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