A brief history of the development of Xiangdao Grottoes

/kloc-The 6th century was named after a carved elephant discovered by the Portuguese when they landed. There are five grottoes, the 1 grotto, or Xiangdao Grottoes for short, which was built in the 8th century. This cave is a Shiva temple with hollow rocks. The plane of the grottoes is cross-shaped, with rows of columns and sides about 40 meters long. At the western end, an independent square ancestral hall was carved to worship Lin Jia. There are two giant statues of high relief gatekeepers on both sides of the four doors of the ancestral hall, and nine huge high relief panels on both sides of the grotto porch and on the rock wall in the grotto, which are engraved with different sides of the Hindu god Shiva respectively. There is a famous bust of Shiva, about 5.5 meters high. The grotto statues are vigorous, vigorous and elegant, full of symbols of mysticism. El Fanta, known as the "City of Grottoes", is located on an island in the Oman Sea near Mumbai Port. There are a large number of stone carvings that show Shiva worship in the grottoes. Through the works in grottoes, especially the tall relief in the main grottoes, Indian art has been perfectly expressed.

Elfinda Grottoes is located on an island in the Sea of Oman near Mumbai, and it takes only half an hour by boat from Mumbai to reach Elfinda Grottoes. "El Fanta" is the name given by the early Portuguese colonists to the island where the grottoes are located, and its name has been used to this day. Because there are carved elephants on the island, it is called "Elephant Island".

El Fanta Grottoes is one of the famous ancient buildings near Mumbai and an outstanding representative of Indian Grottoes. There are hills on both sides of the island and a valley in the middle. Palm trees, Bodhi trees, Ashoka trees and Indus trees are all over the Shan Ye Canyon, with beautiful scenery.

Although the grottoes were dug in the period of the decline of Buddhism and the rise of Hinduism from 450 to 750 AD. Despite the deliberate destruction by the Portuguese invaders, its scale, landscape and artistic charm can still be compared with the most famous grottoes in the world. There are a large number of reliefs and statues in the grottoes, and their themes are mostly the legendary stories of Shiva (the god of destruction among the three major Indian gods) and the life scenes of ancient Indians. Sculpture is a representative of Indian grotto art because of its superb sculpture and carving skills.

There is a statue of Shiva in Cave 5, which is 6 meters high and has three sides. It shows different facial expressions of Shiva. The positive image is solemn, representing Brahma (the god of creation in Hinduism) or Vishnu, the patron saint. On the right, the image is gentle and smiling, representing Shiva as the spiritual embodiment of her mother-in-law; On the left is a frown, a half-open mouth and fangs at the corners of the mouth, representing Shiva the destroyer, the god of terror. Another Jianwu stone carving, deified by Shiva as a dancing king, symbolizes the process of creation, protection and destruction of the universe, such as birth, residence, extinction, transformation and liberation, with beautiful posture and flexible movements.

The most famous in the grottoes is the three-sided bust of Shiva, which is about 5.5 meters high. On the right, it looks like a woman holding a lotus flower, with a gentle expression and a net bottle with a solemn and intelligent expression. On the left, he looks like a man with a poisonous snake in his hand, his brow slightly wrinkled and his teeth exposed. It is generally believed that Shiva's three faces symbolize the eternal changes in the creation, preservation and destruction of the universe. Some people think that this is a combination of three major Hindu religions-Brahma (God of Creation), Vishnu (God of Protection) and Shiva (God of Destruction). The statues of these three gods are called (three-faced gods). This immortal masterpiece is almost as famous as the Taj Mahal.

The stone statue of Shiva killing Adaka in the grottoes shows the victory of wisdom over ignorance. Shiva killed the demon symbolizing darkness with a sword, while holding dirty blood in a bowl to prevent it from splashing on the ground. The stone carvings describing the marriage and game scenes of Shiva and Parvati are full of life. The stone carving of the dancing king incarnating Shiva is graceful and elastic. The sculpture of El Fanta Grottoes is unique, and its style belongs to classic silence. In the exciting and gorgeous transition from solemnity to Indian Baroque, the modeling is honest, vigorous and elegant, and the theme is full of symbols of mysticism. There are many monkeys living on both sides of the road leading to the grottoes. They often beg for food from tourists.

Erfan Tower Grottoes is a wonderful work in Indian Grottoes since the 6th century. It is arranged by imitating the arrangement of altars in Indian religious ceremonies. Grottoes have two main axes, the north-south axis extends from the main entrance to the grottoes, and the east-west axis extends from the side entrance to the temples in the grottoes. Statues on the north-south axis are the core of the buildings in the north-south direction of the grottoes, and there are many striking long columns along the north-south line, which are quite spectacular. Most of the buildings on the east-west axis are reliefs with unique styles, which constitute a major feature of the buildings in this direction. The east-west axis passes right through the temple in El Fanta Grottoes.

Located on a hill near the southeast, the grottoes in Xiangdao were excavated from the 6th century to the 9th century, when Buddhism gradually declined and Hinduism and Jainism resurfaced. Although this small island is surrounded by the sea, it is still unavoidable. During the Mughal dynasty, the grottoes in Elephant Island began to be destroyed. During the British colonial rule, many soldiers actually aimed at grotto carving. Many grottoes have been completely destroyed beyond recognition, and only a few have survived.