2013-12-15
【Aiden in English】
I was so excited for today! We finally did a tour that involved some excises by climbing 120 stone steps along the slope. The shore excursion started with an hour boat ride from Mumbai harbor to the Elephanta Caves off the western coast of the Arabian Sea. Its name is derived from a huge elephant statue. When the Portuguese came here and first discovered it in 1534, they saw the elephant statue at the entrance and gave the name afterward. Now the Elephanta Caves was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We paid our visit and tried to beat the crowd first thing in the morning.
At the top, the caves loomed over us and looked like a giant gaping mouth ready to swallow us whole. But inside we found carvings of gods, goddesses, and celestial beings. The caves were mostly dedicated to Lord Shiva, the god of destruction of evil in the Hindu religion. So in these caves, Lord Shiva was the most powerful god. Instead of just being the destroyer, the caves also showed Shiva as the Creator and the Preserver.
There were many carvings of Lord Shiva and all of them showed different aspects of him. The one that I took the most interest in was the carving where Lord Shiva opened his third eye. The Hindu believed that the third eye was the place where all the power and knowledge one mastered was stored. When Lord Shiva was angry, he would open his third eye and let all his power come out. That's why Hindu men and women covered their third eye with a bindi. So it wouldn't be vulnerable when the Hindu people encountered any difficulties.
One of the carvings also demonstrated Lord Shiva catching the blood of a demon he just killed. Unfortunately, it was hard to tell because the Portuguese damaged it when they occupied the caves as a military base and took the carvings as the targets for shooting practice during the 16th century. So by now, some of the carvings were hard to observe what the images looked like. Accidentally, one Shiva statue carved with three heads was kept intact. Because the Portuguese were Christians, they mistook this three-head Shiva as Jesus in his three forms.
It's a miracle how Elephanta Caves survived over the centuries especially after the Portuguese almost completely destroyed everything here. Maybe Lord Shiva is watching over the caves, just as Jesus is taking care of a church.
【红霞译文】
今天我开心得要命﹗我们终于攀登了一百廿级台阶，能够借助外出观光顺便锻炼一下身体，实在难能可贵。
从位于阿拉伯海西岸的孟买(意指“母亲”或“美丽海湾”)码头乘船前往象岛石窟需要一个钟头，之所以称为“象”岛石窟，是因为石窟前有一巨型大象雕塑，葡萄牙人于1534年登陆该岛时首先发现了它，如今象岛石窟早已被联合国科教文组织纳入《世界遗产名录》，我们一大早刻意赶过来参观，无非就想避开蜂拥而至的人潮。
在象岛至高点，石窟像张大嘴巴想要吃掉我们的巨人迎面扑来，洞内梵天、菩萨以及神仙遥相呼应。象岛石窟主要用来颂扬湿婆(意指“吉祥”)神——印度教中主司摧毁邪恶的破坏之神，因此吉祥神当属整个石窟中最有权威的一位，除此之外还有展现吉祥神身兼创造之神和保护之神的雕刻。 象岛石窟有大量表现吉祥神各种风姿的浮雕壁画，最触目惊心的是吉祥神脑门正中睁开的第三只眼睛，印度教徒坚信第三只眼睛是人类储存所有力量与智慧的地方，一旦吉祥神动怒，他将睁开第三只眼睛全力以赴，这就是为什么印度教徒额前都饰有一个人工痣的原因，它被用来寓意第三只眼睛，只有这样，印度教徒在困难面前才会勇敢无畏。
还有一尊表现吉祥神英勇擒敌身上沾满恶魔血迹的石像，遗憾的是雕塑已难辨认，其原因在于，十六世纪葡萄牙人占领象岛时曾以石窟为军事基地，士兵们不分青红皂白，直接把雕塑当成靶子练习射击，结果破坏了几乎所有的憾世珍品，但唯有一尊《吉祥三面像》的巨作却完好无损，据说当时葡萄牙人笃信基督教，他们误以为这个三头吉祥是上帝耶稣的三种表现形式，想不到《吉祥三面像》意外地保留了下来。 几百年来，象岛石窟差一点惨遭葡萄牙人灭顶之灾，不能不说是个奇迹，也许多亏了吉祥神的看护，正如耶稣保佑基督神明一样。
Today in History(历史上的今天): 2012: 南美洲逍遥游(Frolics in South America) 
Queen's Necklace—Marine Drive (女王项链即海滨大道) 
Victoria Train Station (维多利亚火车站) 
Royal Bombay Yacht Club (皇家孟买游艇俱乐部) 
Mumbai Harbour (孟买海港 12-15-2013) 
Mumbai Waterfront of the Arabian Sea (阿拉伯海·孟买海滨 12-15-2013) 
Gateway of India, A Symbol of Conquest & Colonisation
(印度牌楼·“占领与殖民”的象征) 
Taj Mahal Palace (皇冠陵宫殿酒店) 
Elementary Kids @ Taj Mahal Palace (皇冠陵宫殿酒店·小学生) 
A Tourist Toy Train from Dock to the Elephanta Caves (从码头到象岛石窟的观光玩具火车 12-15-2013) 
Meet Monkey @ Elephanta Island (象岛·遇见猴子 12-15-2013) 
Main Entrance of Cave 1 (一号洞主入口 12-15-2013) 
Elephanta Cave Complex (象岛石窟大厅) 
Main Mandapa & Pillars @ Elephanta Caves (象岛石窟·主要柱厅和柱子 12-15-2013) 
Tour Guide @ Elephanta Caves (象岛石窟·导游 12-15-2013) 
Shiva Linga Shrine inside the Cave Complex (厅内存放吉祥神龛 12-15-2013) 
Trimurti Shiva (三头吉祥神 12-15-2013) 
Close-up of Trimurti Shiva (三头吉祥神近景)
Ardhanarishvara, Half Female (Parvati) & Half Male (Shiva) (半个女吉祥神像 12-15-2013)
Close-up of Ardhanarishvara (半个女吉祥神像近景)
Shiva Bringing Ganges River to Earth (吉祥神将恒河带到人间) 
Shiva Bringing Ganges River to Earth (吉祥神将恒河带到人间) 
Shiva as Nataraja, God of Dance (吉祥为舞蹈之神)
Shiva as Yogishvara, God of Yogas (吉祥神为瑜伽之神) 
Ravana Shaking Mount Kailash (恐怖狂啸震动珍宝雪山)
Kalyanasundara the Wedding of Shiva & Parvati (美满婚姻·吉祥神与雪山神女婚礼 12-15-2013) 
Kalyanasundara (美满婚姻) 
Meet Indian Visitors (遇见印度参观者 12-15-2013) 
Indian Visitors (印度参观者) 
Grilled Corns @ Elephanta Island (象岛·烤玉米 12-15-2013) 
Women @ Field, Elephanta Island (象岛·妇女在田间劳作) 
Dumpster @ Elephanta Island (象岛·垃圾场) 
A Typical Boat Run between Gateway of India and Elephanta Is （穿梭于印度牌楼与象岛之间的轮渡 12-15-2013) 
Ferry Riders (渡轮乘客) 
Polo Grill @ Nautica Oceania (“大洋·航海”号游轮——马球烧烤餐厅 12-15-2013) 
Pool @ Nautica Oceania (“大洋·航海”号游轮——泳池 12-15-2013) Crosslinks(相关博文):
India(出游印度)
Across the Indian Ocean(穿越印度洋) |
