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In ancient mythology, it was believed that Sage Bhagiratha, prayed to have the River Ganges, descend to earth to wash away the ashes of his relatives and thus their sins. To this day, the ashes of many hindus are washed away in the Ganges.
This bas-relief carving standing over 20m in width and 13m in height, depicts the story of the sage performing penance to bring the river to earth. One can see him standing on his leg, the yogic pose, praying. However as the earth could not bear the force of the river, Lord Shiva was called to soften the fall, by slowly cascading the water through his hair.
As the Ganges falls, one can see the many life forms, animals, deer, lions, elephants all washing themselves in the river. There are also a group of monkeys preening each other and a cat imitating the sage while mice frolic around. The people are all shown listening to the sounds of the Ganga as it flows through. Further south is a constructed open Krishna mandap, believed to have been added during the Vijayanager period, to protect the huge bas relief on the back wall.

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