IN GOOD FAITH Man has always endeavoured to get close to his Creator Sai R Vaidyanathan The work to join Elephanta Island with Mumbai by an eight-km-long ropeway will begin after monsoon and will be completed in three years. The island houses the Elephanta Cave Temple predominantly dedicated to Lord Shiva. Similar feats of construction have been undertaken in the past. Here are some of those. A temple for Hanuman For their help in his war against King Ravana of Lanka, Lord Rama decided to give a boon each to all the Vaanara warriors. When Hanuman’s turn came, he said, “Grant me a temple with a deity of my own.” Rama asked Hanuman to pray to Lord Shiva in this regard. When Shiva appeared, he told Hanuman to appeal to Veerabhadra, a powerful hero whom Shiva had created from his matted hair. Veerabhadra came and erected a small idol of him on the ground. But it started growing at an alarming pace. So Hanuman quickly gathered stones and covered the idol on the sides. But the idol continued its growth. It stopped growing only when a huge slab was put on the top of the idol. The idol is still there at the Uddana Veerabhadra Temple in Hampi. Tower to heaven The Bible tells of a time when the whole Earth spoke one language. Some men, having moved west to Babylon, attempted to assert their greatness and power by building a large tower that would enable them to reach the heavens. The Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the men had built. Their arrogance angered God and He scattered the people across the Earth by confusing their common language, thus forever dividing humankind into separate nations. The structure came to be known as the Tower of Babel. Top rock King Raja Raja Chola had ordered the construction of the Brihadeeswara Temple in Thanjavur. Legend has it that a cowherdess, who had a large stone lying in her field, wanted to donate it to the temple. So the capstone of the temple was made with it. When it was ready, a ramp from the woman’s house to the top of the temple was made. Many elephants were used to pull it up the ramp. The temple was completed in 1010 AD. Laying the foundation In the 13th century, King Narasimha Deva I of the Ganga dynasty decided to get a sun temple built. He chose a spot in a gorge and told chief minister Sibai Santra to begin the work. Workers started putting rocks in the middle of the gorge but those either sank or were swept away by the current. Dejected, Sibai decided to take a walk. He saw a hut on the way. As he was feeling hungry, he knocked on the door and an old woman opened it. She offered him hot porridge in a bowl. In his eagerness, Sibai put his fingers in the middle of the bowl and got burnt. The old woman said, “You can’t begin from the middle. Start from the sides.” Sibai understood and soon, the foundation for the Sun Temple at Konark was laid. The author can be contacted at author.sai@gmail.com

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