out the side of the hill to make a cave;
they would also sculpt pillars and
other architectural details that
mimicked free-standing construction.
Another characteristic architectural
feature was a ceiling carved into the
shape of an arch. The true arch, built
from the bottom up and used in
Roman architecture, was not used in
ancient India. A third common feature
was a large window opening over the
doorway to let in additional light.
During the construction, the builders
began removing stone at the top of the
structure and worked their way down;
this eliminated the need for any scaf-
folding during the building process,
but it also meant that the builders had
to work carefully to avoid mistakes.
This construction method creates
structures considered gigantic sculp-
tures rather than buildings. The earliest
examples are Buddhist caves carved
into the side of the western ghatsin
Maharashtra. The form was later used
to create Hindu temples, specifically
at Ellora(in which the oldest caves
are Buddhist) and on the island
of Elephanta.
Chakora
The red partridge (Perdrix rufa).
According to popular belief, the chakora
bird eats nothing but moonbeams. It is
thus happy and content during the
night but tormented by hunger during
the day. In court poetry the chakora bird
often symbolized a cultured and dis-
criminating person who appreciates the
finer things in life. In bhakti(devotion-
al) poetry the chakora is often a symbol
for a devotee (bhakta), since the chakora
bird is said to be in love with the moon.
Thus it is joyful when the moon is out
but pines for it during the day, just as a
devotee is blissful in the deity’spres-
ence and in its absence is consumed
with longing.
Chakra
(“wheel”) In Hindu iconography the
chakra is the discus-weapon carried by
several of the Hindu deities. It is often
associated with the god Vishnuand is
one of the four objects he invariably
carries, along with the club (gada), lotus
(padma), and conch shell (shankha).
The discus was an actual weapon in the
Indian military arsenal, and its sharp
edges made it fearsome in close com-
bat. Vishnu’s discus (named Sudarshana)
is even more fearsome in its power.
According to tradition it was fashioned
by the divine craftsman, Vishvakarma,
from pieces trimmed off of the sun;
thus it carries the power of the sun’s
blazing energy. The discus is also carried
by certain powerful forms of the
Goddess. In her charter myth, she was
formed from the collected radiance of
all the gods and received duplicates of
all their weapons.
In the esoteric ritual tradition
known as tantra, a chakra is a psychic
center in the subtle body. The subtle
body is an alternate physiological sys-
tem that corresponds to the material
body but is believed to reside on a dif-
ferent plane of existence. The subtle
body is visualized as a set of chakras,
or psychic centers, that are arranged
in a column from the base of the spine
to the top of the head and connected
by three vertical channels. Each
chakra is pictured as a multipetaled
lotus flower. All tantric traditions
speak of six chakras: muladhara, svad-
hishthana, manipura, anahata, vishud-
dha, and ajna; some traditions name
additional ones. Each of these chakras
has important symbolic associations—
with a different human physiological
capacity, subtle element (tanmatra),
and with differing seed syllables (bijak-
shara) formed from the letters of the
Sanskrit alphabet, together encompass-
ing all sacred sounds. For further infor-
mation see Philip S. Rawson, The Art of
Tantra, 1973.Chakra