Significance of Arjuna’s Penance in Mahabalipuram

Descent of the Ganges/ Arjuna’s Penance, is a popular monument from the Pallava age in Mahabalipuram. Measuring approximately 30m (100ft) long and 15m (45ft) high, it’s an open air rock carving which depicts the story of how the holy river Ganges came into earth from the heavens led by Arjuna. It’s a giant open-air relief carved out of two monolithic rock boulders. Archaeologists suggest the structure is arguably the best rock cut sculpture in India. It’s a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site since the year 1984.

The story:

Arjuna’s Penance is a depiction of an instance in the Indian epic ‘Mahabharata’. It tells severe austerities that had to be performed by Arjuna in order to obtain Shiva’s weapon. According to myth if one can put themselves through rigorous tests to prove to the gods of their devotion and strength in will, it’s believed the gods would grant them boons of their choice.

Description:

The carving is composed of the depictions of the natural world on the left side and celestial world on the right side. A bifurcated crater in the middle filled with nagas separates the two worlds. In this crater water was poured in order to create a natural waterfall (the Ganges’ descent). To the left top you can see Arjuna in a yogic posture standing on a single leg and his arms raised up. Behind him Shiva is depicted with miniature ganas as attendants. In the right side there is a very prominent carving of an elephant with its young and various celestial angels looking on.

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Contrary to popular belief, Lorem Ipsum is not simply random text. It has roots in a piece of classical Latin literature from 45 BC, making it over 2000 years old. Richard McClintock, a Latin professor at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, looked up one of the more obscure Latin words, consectetur, from a Lorem Ipsum passage, and going through the cites of the word in classical literature, discovered the undoubtable source. Lorem Ipsum comes from sections 1.10.32 and 1.10.33 of "de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum" (The Extremes of Good and Evil) by Cicero, written in 45 BC. This book is a treatise on the theory of ethics, very popular during the Renaissance. The first line of Lorem Ipsum, "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet..", comes from a line in section 1.10.32.

Contrary to popular belief, Lorem Ipsum

Contrary to popular belief, Lorem Ipsum is not simply random text. It has roots in a piece of classical Latin literature from 45 BC, making it over 2000 years old. Richard McClintock, a Latin professor at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, looked up one of the more obscure Latin words, consectetur, from a Lorem Ipsum passage, and going through the cites of the word in classical literature, discovered the undoubtable source. Lorem Ipsum comes from sections 1.10.32 and 1.10.33 of "de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum" (The Extremes of Good and Evil) by Cicero, written in 45 BC. This book is a treatise on the theory of ethics, very popular during the Renaissance. The first line of Lorem Ipsum, "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet..", comes from a line in section 1.10.32.