The most elaborate monument at Ellora is the
Kailasanatha Temple (to Shiva who resides on
Mount KAILASH), built by the Rastrakuta emperor
Krishna I (c. 756–773 C.E.). This entire temple,
cut from solid rock, includes a shrine room, hall,
gateway, votive pillars, lesser shrines and cloisters.
There are many carved divine figures and narra-
tives on the walls. The ground plan is said to be
about the same size as the Parthenon in Athens,
Greece.
The facades for the caves inhabited by the Jain
monks, as well as the Jain temples cut into the
rock, exhibit sculptures featuring the full pano-
ply of Jain religious imagery. There are images of
the TIRTHANKARAS (great personages), gods and
goddesses (subordinate to the Tirthankaras in
importance in the Jain context), and scenes from
traditional Jain stories.
Further reading: Doris Clark Chatham, “Myth, Cult,
and Cetana at the Kailasa Temple, Ellora,” in Michael
Meister, ed., Discourses on Siva: Proceedings of a Sympo-
sium on the Nature of Religious Imagery (Philadelphia:
University of Philadelphia Press, 1984), pp. 156–169;
Jose Pereira, Monolithic Jinas: The Iconography of the
Jain Temples of Ellora (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass,
1977).
ends of life, four
The four ends of life or purusharthas (goals of
man) represent a traditional scheme that has been
maintained in its current form for over 2,000
years. The four are artha (prosperity, worldly
well-being), kama (pleasure, erotic satisfaction),
DHARMA (right conduct, adherence to social law),
and moksha (liberation from the rounds of birth
and rebirth). They offer a balanced approach to
the world. Though Indian tradition is known to
focus upon transcendence and the search beyond
the world, VEDIC tradition always emphasized
family, prosperity, pleasure, and well-being as
worthy goals, as long as they are not pursued or
cultivated in the extreme.
Further reading: Samiran Chandra Cakrabarti, The Value
System as Reflected in the Vedas: The Concept of Purusarthas
(Ujjain: Maharshi Sandipani Rashtriya Ved Vidya Pratish-
than, 2000); Klaus Klostermaier, A Survey of Hinduism, 2d
ed. (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1994);
Rajendra Prasad et al., Studies on the Purusarthas (Bhu-
baneswar: Utkal University, 1994); Ludwik Sternbach,
Bibliography on Dharma and Artha in Ancient and Medieval
India (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1973).Europe
Excluding Great Britain and the Netherlands,
Europe has had little immigration from India
and today has a small Hindu population. Great
Britain and the Netherlands had colonies into
which South Asian laborers migrated. Many
Hindus from Guyana (see CARIBBEAN REGION) and
Kenya (see AFRICA) left the struggling economies
and racial persecution of those countries to enter
Great Britain. Over 65,000 South Asians were
exiled from Uganda under the directive of Idi
Amin in the 1970s and nearly all fled to Britain.
In Britain today, Hinduism flourishes in a
variety of practices, and many temples exist (see
UNITED KINGDOM). Because these Hindus remain
close to their native land through Commonwealth
ties, they have imported influential political and
religious movements from India. Most neo-Hindu
movements as well as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad
are active in Great Britain.
The Netherlands also has a sizable South
Asian community, populated largely by Hindus
who fled economic and political hardship in Suri-
name. As in Great Britain, they remain in contact
with Hindu movements in India and reflect the
traditional practices as well as the conflicts repre-
sented in contemporary Indian Hinduism.
Eastern Europe remains the main residence for
the Gypsies or Romany, who were originally Hin-
dus from the Punjab and Afghanistan. The lan-
guage and customs of the Gypsy ethnicity retain
vestiges of a Hindu past, even though the Gypsy
population is not considered a Hindu movement.K 150 ends of life, four