ELEPHANTA. 
265 
There is one piece of sculpture in a recess of this 
temple remarkable for the spirit and beauty of its 
execution ; it is a colossal figure, fourteen feet high, 
representing the Siva Vindex of the Hindoo Pantheon. 
It has been much mutilated by the Portuguese, the 
whole of the lower extremities having been completely 
broken away ; nevertheless sufficient remains to give 
a just idea of this fine sculpture. The expression 
of the countenance is admirable, exhibiting an unre- 
lenting ferocity, characteristic of the divinity which it 
pourtrays, yet blending with that ferocity a certain 
majesty that seems to elevate it above the vulgar bru- 
tality of human passion. It originally had eight arms, 
several of which are now broken, and is marked with 
the awful insignia of an avenging deity. There are 
many other statues of equal size, but I think none of 
equal beauty as a work of art. 
When Bishop Heber visited this cavern, he con- 
fesses that his expectations, though highly raised, were 
much exceeded by the reality. “ Both the dimen- 
sions, the proportions, and the sculptures,” says he, 
“ seemed to me to be of a more noble character and a 
more elegant execution than I had been led to sup- 
pose. Even the statues are executed with great spi- 
rit, and are some of them of no common beauty, 
considering their dilapidated condition and the coarse- 
ness of their material.” Here full justice is done to 
this extraordinary excavation ; but with an unaccount- 
able departure from his general mild and gentle cau- 
tion, that amiable and really great man comes to the 
hasty and unauthorised conclusion that the temple 
caves at Elephanta are not of extreme antiquity. The 
2 A 
