India houses the world’s oldest illusion, situated in the Airavatesvara Temple in Thanjavur district of India which has captured the attention of both art historians and vision scientists
The Airavatesvara Temple in India houses a bas-relief—which was sculpted around 850 years ago.
All well preserved, it has captured the attention of both art historians and vision scientists.
This piece of art is remarkable as neither the subject has been depicted in it, nor its delicate details, however it contains one of the oldest examples of illusions in art.
The creature it represents is either seen as an elephant or a bull, taking cues of ancient example of ambiguous brain teasers which include the duck/rabbit, or the old/young lady illusions.
The city of Mahabalipuram is possibly home to even older ambiguous illusion, which was sculpted on a pillar some 1300 years ago.
The depiction, at first site, appears to be of cow and her calf, but by blocking the center of the carving, it portray an adult and a baby elephant.