The tamer of lions

Entry by way of a “secret” tunnel into a rock-cut Ellora cave fetches your columnist right in front of an awesome sculpture of the Great Goddess. A huge pair of snarling lions has been carved by the sides of a balustrade leading into the massive main hall. The Para-Shakti, or Supreme Goddess, stands almost unadorned and without attributes, reminding me of the statue of the Great Goddess we saw at Mount Sipylus in Turkey some years ago.

The goddess from ancient Anatolia was called Matar Kubeleya, or “Mountain Mother”, much like our own Parvati-Shailaja-Girija, the “Daughter” of the Mountain Himalaya. Like the undefeatable Ma Durga, who rides a lion and lives in the mountains, the cult of Mother Kubeleya was also associated with lions and mountains!

The Greeks shortened her name to Cybele and added a chariot drawn by lions on which she arrived in Athens as a mystery-goddess along with music, wine and ecstatic followers. Some of the elements, adoring dwarves and divine damsels, are evoked in one of the most majestic manifestations of the goddess carved by the Rashtrakuta sculptor at Ellora.

This is a huge panel that shows Durga as Mahishasuramardini: having subdued the bull buffalo with her foot, the Goddess holds it down by the snout almost caressingly, while the sword is poised to deliver the coup de grace in her left hand. The artist seems to suggest that so great is the power of the Goddess that combating evil is child’s play, or bayen haath ka khel, for her! But did she come first; or did Cybele? Never mind, her devotees say: she was everywhere!