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Soaked in Hindu mythology and legend, the Raghunath temple, atop Malyavanta hill, is rather grand. The panoramic views from the hill are quite fantastic. You can see the Hampi boulders and lush palm trees as well.
Protagonist of the epic poem, Ramayana, also a religious text, is Rama, aka Raghunath, the ideal man - deified as God himself. Long before that would occur, he was thrown out of the palace in hometown Ayodhya, by his family - King Dashrath and conniving stepmother Kaikeyi, while mother Kaushalya cried silently, anguished. Together with his consort Sita, and younger
brother Lakshman, they spent 14 years of exile roaming the forests and villages, across the country - from northern to southern India. But towards the end of their sufferings and a traumatically long 14 years, Sita was abducted by villainous Ravana. Yet again, they were victims of greed and deception. Ravana was disguised as a golden deer; Sita, unaware of this, was attracted by the beautiful beast, and sent off Rama on its hunt. During the period that followed in retrieving his wife, Raghunath encountered the monkey king Hanuman who soon turned into a faithful aide. He set off to
bring back Sita from Sri Lanka. Ostensibly, Ravana was supposed to have reigned over that country many eons ago. While Hanuman was away, Raghunath waited impatiently for his wife's return on Malyavanta hill; hence the temple.
My thought, when I saw this sculpture, was that here's this beautiful woman dreaming of her "dear", and obviously on cloud nine! I wonder if she's still on her "deer" trip! But that's assuming she is Sita... I don't know! |
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