feature with roots in the Buddhist
chaityas (rock-cut cave temples). This
architectural style is midway between the
Nagara towers and the Dravida tiers.
Ardha (“Half”) Kumbha Mela
A religious celebration secondary to
the Kumbha Mela. The Kumbha Mela
is a gigantic religious festival that
entails bathing (snana) in sacred
rivers. It is celebrated at four sacred
sites (tirthas): Haridwar, Allahabad,
Ujjain, and Nasik. It occurs approxi-
mately every twelve years, based on
the position of the planet Jupiterin
the zodiac.
The Ardha Kumbha Mela is cele-
brated six years after the full (purna)
Kumbha Mela, when Jupiter has
advanced halfway through the zodiac
toward the next full Kumbha Mela. It is
generally celebrated only at Allahabad
and Haridwar, marking the greater
importance of these two sites.
Although the full Kumbha Mela is
deemed more auspicious and gets
much larger attendance, the Ardha
Kumbha Mela is still attended by mil-
lions of pilgrims.Ardhamandapa
(“half pavilion”) In the later Nagarastyle
of temple architecture, the ardhaman-
dapa was the entrance porch of the tem-
ple, which formed a transitional area
between the outside world and the
mandapa, or hall.Ardhanarishvara
(“the deity who is half woman”)
Particular form of the god Shiva, in
which the left side of the image has
female form, dress, and ornamentation,
and the right side has male characteris-
tics and dress.
The image has several possible inter-
pretations. As a divinity one of Shiva’s
attributes is his ability to transcend all
duality, and this half-woman, half-man
image symbolizes that power over even
the most basic human difference, sexual
identity. In the context of the esoteric
ritual tradition known as tantra, which
describes the universe as the product of
the interaction between the divine prin-
ciples of awareness (Shiva) and power
(Shakti), this image symbolizes not only
the radically different natures of these
two principles, but also their insepara-
bility in action.
The Ardhanarishvara is sometimes
referred to as the androgyne; this term
seems inappropriate, however, since
the image does not show the loss
of sexual characteristics associated
with androgyny but rather the full
development of each on their respec-
tive sides.Ardha (“Half”) Kumbha Mela
An image of the deity Ardhanarishvara in
Mahabalipuram. A form of the god Shiva,
Ardhanarishvara is half male and half female.