Today thanks to some amazing captures by Satheesh, we are being treated to a spectacular miniature from Darasuram.
We had earlier seen Vaali humbling Ravana in a previous post. He was famous for the boon that he had received, according to which anyone who came before him lost half his/her strength to him, thereby making Vali invulnerable to any frontal attack.
Vali had been known as a good and pious vanara-king, but once when he was challenged to a duel by a wicked demon Mayavi – the battle raged on for a long time inside a dark and ravenous cave. Vaali left instructions with his brother to wait for him at the entrance….when vaali did not come out for a long time,Sugreev spotted blood oosing out of the mouth of the cave, he also heard a shrill voice like that of his brother. Fearing that his brother may be dead, he blocked the entrance to cave with a huge boulder and returned to Kishkinda.
Vali emerged and found the cave mouth blocked, in a fit of rage he suspected his brother of plotting against him. HIs anger was multiplied when he came to his capital and noticed that Sugreev was ruling in his place.
Sugriva tried to explain the situation to Vali, but Vali would not listen. Vali banished Sugreev from the kingdom, and held the latter’s wife captive in his own palace. Sugreev fled into the forest, where he met and formed an alliance with Rama. He sought Rama’s help in return for his help in defeating Ravana and rescuing Sita.
The act of Rama killing Vaali, from an ambush attack ( attack from behind) is a subject of many debates. Here we are seeing a superb miniature of the scene just prior to the attack.
Cant see it, lets go closer
Sadly the people don’t even notice the beautiful sculptures.
Check out this for a sense of size.
What happened next and what happened before this – some more interesting sculptures coming our way shortly.
Images courtesy : Satheesh and the last one from http://www.kumbakonam.info
வாலி, சுக்ரீவன் சண்டை நடக்கும் இடத்தில் இருந்து பார்த்தால் ராமர் சிற்பம் இருக்கும் இடம் தெரியாது. ராமர் சிற்பம் இருக்கும் இடத்தில் இருந்து பார்த்தால் வாலி மட்டும் தெரிவான். சிற்ப அற்புதம் என்பது இது தான். உண்மையில் சிற்பிகள் பிரம்மாவுக்கு மேல் என்றும் சொல்லலாம்..அற்புதப் படைப்புகள்.
Well my Tamil is comparably weaker. but from whatever I could gather, the comment by Ms.Geeta Sambasivam seems to have captured the essence of the stupendous sculpture. The revelation that while walking you cannot see Rama or Vaali which is all because of the effect given by the sculptors which places the sculptors above Brahma, puts the entire sequence in perspective.
நண்பரே, இது போல் பல நூறு ஆடல் அணங்குகளின் சிற்பங்களும் தாராசுரத்தில் மலிந்து கிடக்கின்றன. அவற்றையும் தாங்கள் தகுந்த விளக்கங்களுடன் இங்கு பதிவு செய்ய வேண்டும் என்பது எனது விருப்பம்.