Vishnudharmottara Purana (Art and Architecture)
by Bhagyashree Sarma | 2021 | 59,457 words
This page relates 鈥楾he Vishnudharmottara-purana and Modern Iconography鈥� of the study on the elements of Art and Architecture according to the Vishnudharmottara Purana: an ancient text whose third book deals with various artisan themes such as Architecture, Painting, Dance, Grammar, etc. Many chapters are devoted to Hindu Temple architecture and the iconography of Deities and their installation rites and ceremonies.
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6. The 痴颈峁ａ箛耻dharmottara-pur膩峁嘺 and Modern Iconography
In Hinduism, the tradition of worshipping of idols has been continuing from early period in India. History shows that from the date of antiquity people used to connect themselves with their lords through the medium of the images of different deities in different forms. Thus the practice of image making had come forward. Different treatises of Sanskrit literature deal with the topic of image making. In this context it is worth mentioning that the 痴颈峁ａ箛耻诲丑补谤尘辞迟迟补谤补辫耻谤腻峁嘺 also gives a huge contribution towards the study of image making in which different structures of different deities are beautifully explained. The perspectives of the 痴颈峁ａ箛耻诲丑补谤尘辞迟迟补谤补辫耻谤腻峁嘺 as well as other treatises have already discussed in the 5th chapter of this dissertation. The influences of those early scriptures are seen to fall on the images of different deities discovered in various states of India at different times. Those images or idols are generally seen to be engraved on the walls of temples or these are preserved in some museums of India as well as different museums of foreign countries. The statues of different deities found in different places are mentioned here.
a) 叠谤补丑尘腻:
A granite based sculpture of 叠谤补丑尘腻 with four heads and four hands seated on a stool of Lotus, as referred in the 痴颈峁ａ箛耻诲丑补谤尘辞迟迟补谤补辫耻谤腻峁嘺 is seen to be preserved in The Cleveland Museum of Art.
Figure: 叠谤补丑尘腻 with four heads and four hands seated on Lotus[1]
b) 痴颈峁ａ箛耻:
The statue of 痴颈峁ａ箛耻 along with his carrier 骋补谤耻岣峚 of which a reference is there in the 痴颈峁ａ箛耻诲丑补谤尘辞迟迟补谤补辫耻谤腻峁嘺, is found in the Changu Narayan Temple of Kathmandu, Nepal. This temple is located in Changunarayan metropolis of Bhaktapur District of Kathmandu of Nepal.
Moreover, a partly destroyed stone statue of 痴颈峁ａ箛耻 seated on 骋补谤耻岣峚 is also seen to be preserved in the Doul Govinda temple of North Guwahati, Assam. The following figures show the picture of the idols of 痴颈峁ａ箛耻.
Figure: 痴颈峁ａ箛耻 on 骋补谤耻岣峚[2] Figure: 痴颈峁ａ箛耻 on 骋补谤耻岣峚[3]
c) 惭补丑腻诲别惫补:
惭补丑腻诲别惫补 is an epithet of Lord 艢颈惫补. In the Art institute of Chicago a statue of Lord 艢颈惫补 along with his wife 笔腻谤惫补迟墨 seated on a Bull is preserved. The following figure shows the picture of the idol of Lord 艢颈惫补 and 笔腻谤惫补迟墨.
Figure: 艢颈惫补 seated on bull[4]
In the scriptures of ancient India, Lord 艢颈惫补 is imagined somewhere with three, somewhere with four or five heads. The 痴颈峁ａ箛耻诲丑补谤尘辞迟迟补谤补辫耻谤腻峁嘺 shows the reference of five faces of Lord 艢颈惫补. A point to be noted here is that 濒颈峁単补 or phallus is worshiped as an icon of Lord 艢颈惫补. According to the 艢颈惫补pur膩峁嘺, the phallus is the emblem i.e. the sign of union of Lord 艢颈惫补 and 艢补办迟颈, for whom it is the symbol.[5] Sometimes the 濒颈峁単补 is seen to be associated with faces and in the five faced phallus, the face of 墨艣腻峁嘺 should be on the top and the other four faces should face four direction viz. east, south, west and north respectively.[6] . In the Budhanilakantha Temple of Nepal, a phallus with five faces is seen to be worshiped. The following figure shows the picture of that phallus.
Figure: Five faced phallus[7]
Moreover, on the wall of the elephanta caves of Mumbai, Maharashtra, a rock-cut statue of three faced lord 艢颈惫补 of 8th Century can be seen.[8] The below mentioned figure shows the picture of that three faced lord 艢颈惫补.
Figure: Three faced lord 艢颈惫补[9]
d) Yama:
In the 痴颈峁ａ箛耻诲丑补谤尘辞迟迟补谤补辫耻谤腻峁嘺 the statue of Yama has been portrayed as holding 岣峚峁囜笉补, 办丑补岣峠补 and carma and He is seated on a buffalo along with his two companions viz. Citragupta and 碍腻濒补. A statue of Yama with Citragupta and 碍腻濒补 associated with a buffalo below is seen to be engraved on the wall of R膩j膩r膩ni Temple, Bhubaneswar, Odisha. The following figure shows the picture of the statue of Yama. In this picture Yama is seen to hold a 岣峚峁囜笉补 and a noose.
Figure: Yama with Citragupta and 碍腻濒补[10]
e) 痴补谤耻峁嘺:
The statue of 痴补谤耻峁嘺 seated on swans, found in the National
Museum of Cambodia has sufficient resemblance with the description found in the 痴颈峁ａ箛耻诲丑补谤尘辞迟迟补谤补辫耻谤腻峁嘺, where the image of 痴补谤耻峁嘺 is specifically described as seated on a chariot of swans. On the other hand, 碍腻艣测补辫补艣颈濒辫补 accepts crocodile as the seat of 痴补谤耻峁嘺. The following figures show the statues of 痴补谤耻峁嘺.
Figure: 痴补谤耻峁嘺, seated on swans[11] Figure: 痴补谤耻峁嘺, seated on crocodile[12]
f) Vahni:
The 痴颈峁ａ箛耻诲丑补谤尘辞迟迟补谤补辫耻谤腻峁嘺 states that having matted hair is an identity of Vahni or Agni. A statue of Agni with matted hair is seen to be preserved in the Delhi Museum. Moreover, the statue of Agni along with his wife 厂惫腻丑腻, is also seen to be preserved in the Walters art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland. The following figures show the pictures of the statue of Agni preserved in the Delhi Museum and Walters art Museum.
Figure: Agni with Matted here[13] Figure: Agni with 厂惫腻丑腻[14]
g) 痴腻测耻:
A rock cut sculpture of the god 痴腻测耻 with a dress flown by wind as mentioned in the 痴颈峁ａ箛耻诲丑补谤尘辞迟迟补谤补辫耻谤腻峁嘺 is seen to be carved on the wall of Badami Cave, Karnataka. The following figure shows the picture of god 痴腻测耻 of Badami Cave.
Figure: 痴腻测耻 with a flowing dress[15]
h) 艢补办谤补:
艢补办谤补 is an epithet of god Indra. A rock cut carving of Hindu god Indra, sitting on his elephant along with his wife 厂补肠墨, is seen to be engraved on the wall of Chennakesava temple of Somanathapur, Karnataka, South India. In this carving, the statue of Indra is seen to have vajra in his left hand and an elephant goad in the right hand which has resemblance with the view of the 痴颈峁ａ箛耻诲丑补谤尘辞迟迟补谤补辫耻谤腻峁嘺. The following figure shows the picture of god Indra.
Figure: Indra with his wife 厂补肠墨[16]
i) 膧ditya:
In the 痴颈峁ａ箛耻诲丑补谤尘辞迟迟补谤补辫耻谤腻峁嘺, the statue of god 膧ditya i.e. Sun is referred to as wearing a dress of Northern India, holding lotus and reign of sunbeams. The following picture of the Sun god preserved in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art is seen to hold a lotus. The statue of Sun god preserved in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art is quite broken for which it is not possible to assume the complete structure. Again, a statue of Sun god of 碍耻峁Ｄ乶补 period, wearing northern styled attire along with a cap, particularly seen in Himachal Pradesh is preserved in the Government Museum of Mathura, Uttar Pradesh.
Figure: Sun god holding lotus[17] Figure: Sun god in Northern attire[18]
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
Source: Google, Picture Credit: Leonard C. Hanna & Jr. Fund, Venue: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio, USA.
[2]:
Source: Google, Picture Credit: Ian Trower, Date of picture taken: 28.03.2013, Vanue: Changu Narayan Temple, Bhaktapur, UNESCO world Heritage site, Kathmandu, Nepal.
[3]:
Picture is taken by Myself. Date of Picture taken: 11.09.2021, Venue: Doul Govinda Temple, North Guwahati, Assam.
[4]:
Source Google, Picture Credit: Saliko, Date of picture taken: 28.10.2016, Vanue: Art Institute of Chicago.
[5]:
[6]:
T.A. Gopinatha Rao, Elements of Hindu Iconography, Vol-2, Part-1, p.64
[7]:
Picture Credit: Mero Raja/ [email protected], Venue: Budhanilakantha Temple, Kathmandu, Nepal
[8]:
Vasudeva S.Agrawala, The Heritage of Indian Art, p.64
[9]:
[10]:
Source: Google, Picture Credit: Dinodia Photos RM, Date of picture taken:14.03.2015, Vanue: Rajarani Temple, Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
[11]:
Source: Google, Picture Credit: Millennium of Glory, p.219, Vanue: National Museum of Cambodia
[12]:
[13]:
Source: Google, Photo Credit: Wayfarer/Army stock photo, Date of picture taken: 05.01.2019, Vanue: Delhi Museum.
[14]:
Source: Google, Credit: Rudi Oriental Art, New York, Purchased by John and Berthe Ford, Baltimore, 1976, Given to Walters Art Museum, 2003.
[15]:
Source: Google, Photo Credit: India Travel, Lazyppl, Date of picture posted: 29.09.2013, Vanue: Badami Cave, Karnataka.
[16]:
Source: Google, Photo Credit: Nilanewsom, Vanue: Chennakesava temple of Somanathapur, Karnataka.
[17]:
Source: Google, Picture Credit: Ashley Van Haeften, Date of picture taken: 23.06.2021, Venue: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California, USA.
[18]:
Source: Google, Picture Credit: Biswarup Ganguly, Date of picture taken: 23.02.2013, Venue: Government Museum, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh.