Cave 15 is a temple dedicated to Shiva--the primary image in the holiest spot is a linga, and the panels carved into the walls of the cave primarily depict scenes from Shiva's mythology.  In the temple's center is a large image of Shiva's bull, Nandi (4 feet tall, 6 feet long), which according to the canons of Hindu iconography, always has his head pointing toward Shiva (as a devoted servant).

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This image shows Shiva as Tripurari, the Destroyer of the Three Cities.  According to the story, a group of powerful deities generated immense religious merit, and used that to create three divine cities, which could be destroyed only by a single arrow shot by Shiva.  In the course of time these deities lost their virtue, and eventually Shiva destroyed them to reestablish righteousness in the universe.  This story stresses Shiva's power (against which nothing can stand), but also his grace--after releasing the arrow to destroy the Three Cities, he sped ahead of it to rescue a devotee who lived there.

 

This image looks outward from the main part of cave 15, and shows a smaller temple at the entrance (on the back side are the stairs one climbs to get up to the caves).  It's an architectural flourish to make the temple site more complex.  Note the elaborate moldings and cornices on the structure's top and bottom, and the niches with the figures. Remember that this structure is not "built," but "carved out" from the hillside (whatever we see is left over from the original rock.

Here is an exterior shot of Cave 15, showing something of its scale.  Exterior steps (visible at bottom left), lead up to it, and another set of interior stairs leads from the ground floor to the first floor.  Note too the uniformity of the pillars, both in style and in spacing.  This was a massive project.

 

Even though cave 15 is primarily devoted to Shiva, as in any Hindu temple there are also images of other deities.  This image shows Vishnu's Boar Avatar, in which he plunged into the ocean to rescue the Earth (shown supported by his hand and leaning on his snout), who had been imprisoned there by a demon.    The dominant theme in Vishnu's mythology is that of re-establishing the cosmic balance (often through slaying or neutralizing the agent causing that imbalance).

 

This image shows Vishnu's Dwarf Avatar (the 5th of ten).  In this story the problem was the demon-king Bali, who gained enough religious merit to become ruler of the universe (and which point he became corrupted and started to oppress the world, which is how  these stories usually run). Once Bali sponsored a great sacrifice where he gave away valuable gifts (generating more religious merit).  Vishnu came to him disguised as a dwarf, and asked for three paces of land so that he could have a place for sacrifice.  When Bali agreed, Vishnu's dwarf form suddenly expanded to gigantic size.  With one step (shown here) he spanned the earth, with the second the heavens, and since there was no place left for a third step, Bali offered his own head.  Vishnu stepped there and pushed him down to the underworlds, where Bali continued to rule (and he had also been blessed by the touch of the deity's foot).

 

This image shows Vishnu's fourth Avatar, the Man-Lion, which he took to slay a demon-king who could not be killed by day or night, by man or beast, or by any weapon.  Because of this the demon became corrupt and oppressed others--in this case, demanding that everyone worship him instead of Vishnu.  His own son refused to do so, and as the demon was about to kill him, Vishnu burst forth in a composite man-lion form (neither man nor beast), at evening (neither day nor night), and tore out the demon's entrails with his claws (not a weapon).  And that was the end of him.

 

Kailasanatha Temple

 

 

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