11 November 2009

Palace guards, Gujarat

Carved in stone
At the old palace the guards keep watch, bound by time and the webs of spiders. Some have already begun to crumble into ruin; hundreds more still gaze out.
All content © 2009 Pete McGregor

4 comments:

P.E.A. said...

What amazing detail. These men would be recognisable if you met them in the street, together with their little dogs.
How old is this magical place?

Zhoen said...

They all look rather happy, though. Even their guard dogs.

Barbara Butler McCoy said...

These carvings are wonderful, breathtaking! I think the elephant is my favorite ... while not Ganesh, I appreciate that god's capacity more and more!!

pohanginapete said...

P.E.A., I don't know how old it is, but I certainly hope it gets to be a lot older. And you're right about how individual they are; it makes me wonder how closely they were modelled on real people, and what their lives were like.

Zhoen, judging from the roundness of those cheeks, being a palace guard was indeed something to be happy about.

Barbara, Ganesh is quite a character and I admit to a degree of fondness for him. I certainly met him everywhere I went.