They moved past the cell and turned their attention to the carvings on the back wall of the cave.
“At least this one’s intact,” Erik remarked. “No missing parts.” He pointed toward an enormous bust of Shiva.
It stood at least twenty feet high. Unlike the other statues, the bust had not been damaged. The figure possessed three faces. The central face looked forward. The two others were seen in profile on either side of the head. Each face bore a different expression.
“This is called the Trimurti sculpture.” Griffin read from his guide book. “The three heads represent the three aspects of Shiva – creation, protection, and destruction.”
Cassie folded her arms and scowled at the statue. “This is getting complicated. I think I need a refresher course in Hindu mythology. I’ve heard the names of some of their gods and goddesses, but I don’t know much about the religion. What do Hindus believe?”
Griffin chuckled. “That is a very tricky question because the Hindu pantheon is extraordinarily intricate.” He paused as a thought struck him. “Do you remember our conversation this morning about Indian culture?”
“What conversation?” Erik asked.
“The one we had while you were getting your beauty sleep,” Cassie retorted. Turning to Griffin, she said, “Sure I remember. You were saying that India is like the United States if the States were run independently and everybody spoke a different language.”
“Exactly so,” the scrivener concurred. “The Hindu religion operates on much the same principle. There is no dogma—no central religious authority like a Pope to enforce conformity. There is only local practice which encompasses a dizzying number of divinities—too many to mention or even remember.” He gave a helpless sigh. “Based on my research, there are a few concepts that seem to be generally held. At the top of the religious hierarchy is Brahman. He is essentially an abstraction because he is... well... everything. He infuses all of his creation while at the same time being limitless and formless. Brahman is truth and reality.”
Cassie raised skeptical eyebrows. “Makes it hard to direct a prayer at somebody when he’s everywhere and nowhere at once. That’s not exactly a warm and fuzzy god. At least Zeus had a toga and thunderbolts.”
Erik grinned appreciatively but offered no other comment.
Griffin continued. “Quite. That’s where avatars come into play. An avatar is a manifestation of a particular aspect of Brahman. It puts a face to the name. The holy trinity of Hinduism would be Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer.”
Cassie spun around and took a quick survey of all the images carved on the cave walls. “So this entire shrine is devoted to Shiva—the guy whose job is to destroy everything. Do Hindus all have a death wish?”
“Ah, but destruction can be viewed in a positive light. For instance, if a new skyscraper is about to be built in downtown Chicago, someone would have to tear down the old building to make way for the new.”
“Shiva’s the demolition crew?” Cassie remarked doubtfully.
“Yes, and quite necessary to the continuity of life. You must remember that Hindus see time as cyclic. Periods of creation followed by periods of preservation followed by periods of destruction and so on. There can be no creation of the new without a preceding destruction of the old.”
“I guess that makes sense,” the pythia conceded. “But didn’t you just say this Trimurti sculpture shows Shiva as the destroyer AND the creator AND the preserver? Isn’t that the job of the other two gods in the trinity?”
Griffin shrugged. “There are many, many variations to Hindu belief. That would be one of them.”
“Forget I asked.” Cassie rubbed her head. “Just give me the bullet points of the religion.”
“Very well. The three principal avatars of Hinduism all have consorts—female counterparts who actuate their potential. Brahma’s consort is Saraswati, the goddess of learning. Vishnu’s consort is Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. Shiva’s consort is Parvati, the mother goddess though she also has avatars which are much less maternal. Kali and Durga are two of her more fearsome aspects.”
Cassie stepped over to the bas-relief to the right of the Trimurti which depicted a male and female divinity and their celestial attendants. Directing her attention to the smaller female figure, she stared at it briefly. “So that’s Parvati—Shiva’s little woman.” She turned to address her two teammates. “And I mean that literally. In every one of these carvings where the two of them are together, Shiva is twice as big as Parvati.”
“It was a convention of Hindu art to depict the god as bigger than the goddess,” Griffin informed her.
“Except here,” Erik corrected.
The other two turned to notice what he was pointing at. To the left of the Trimurti was a seventeen-foot-high sculpture of a bisexual divinity. One half was female with prominent breast, curved hip, and lavish jewelry while the other half was male. The male figure rested his arm on the head of a bull.
“In this one, Shiva and Parvati are both the same scale,” the paladin said.
Cassie walked over beside him to study the sculpture. “What is this about?” she murmured.
Griffin glanced at his book. “This is called Ardhanarishvara. The carving is meant to depict the synthesis of the male and female energies which created the universe. There are statues and paintings in many temples in India which show the pair together in one body. It’s also typical to show the animal each deity rides. Here we see Shiva leaning on his mount which is a bull. Parvati’s lion is absent in this carving.”
“A goddess and a lion,” Cassie repeated smiling. “That combination has been around a long time, hasn’t it? The goddess-lion statue I validated in Turkey was at least nine thousand years old.”
“Right you are.” Griffin smiled, apparently pleased that she had seen the connection. “The great mother goddess and her lion were common motifs in
