Essay name: Purana Bulletin
Author:
Affiliation: University of Kerala / Faculty of Oriental Studies
The "Purana Bulletin" is an academic journal published in India. The journal focuses on the study of Puranas, which are a genre of ancient Indian literature encompassing mythological stories, traditions, and philosophical teachings. They represent Hindu scriptures in Sanskrit and cover a wide range of subjects.
Purana, Volume 12, Part 1 (1970)
66 (of 240)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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52
啶啶班ぞ啶｀ぎ啷� - [pur膩峁嘺m - ] 笔鲍搁膧狈础
[Vol. XII, No. 1
bowl in his left. His long hair is arranged in thick strands. He
wears a necklace, a strip of cloth (across his breast), deer-skin and
a waist-cloth.
An image of Vish峁噓 used as a cult icon is in the Vidisha
Museum (Fig. 2). In this 9th century sculpture, the dwarf god
stands in the middle of what may be described as a frame. He has
a squat figure and a bulging belly. He is standing on a lotus
pedestal, in an upright and straight posture called samapadasthanaka.
He is four-armed, and carries in his back right and left hands a
staff and a wheel; his front right hand is in the gesture of blessing
(varada) and the front left carries an indistinct object. Behind his
head is a halo. His hair is arranged in curls and is decorated with
strings of jewels. The god wears,
The god wears,
as ornaments, earrings, a
necklace, arm-bands, bracelets, waist-cord, a long vaijayanti
garland and anklets.
V膩mana is accompanied by many attendants, among whom
are garland-bearing vidyadharas at the top of the composition ; on
Vamana's left is a male figure which may be recognised as Sankha-
purusa.
On the frame of this image are represented other incarnations
of Vishnu, Matsya, K眉rma, Nrsimha, Balarama and Kalkin. The
axe of Parasurama can also be recognised, though the figure of that
incarnation can no longer be seen.
The sandstone V膩mana sculpture from Manwa, Sitapur
District, U. P. has fleshy figure (Fig. 3). He stands within a frame
in samapadasthanaka, on a lotus pedestal. He is four-armed and
carries a staff in his back right hand; his front right hand is
perhaps in the gesture of blessing. In his back left hand he carries
a wheel; the front left hand is broken. He has a halo behid his
head. His hair is arranged in curls. He wears earrings, necklaces,
a sacred thread, a vaijayanti garland, a waist-cloth, arm-bands,
bracelets and anklets.
He is accompanied by many attendants, including flying,
garland-bearing vidyadharas and worshipping men. This image has
been dated into the 10th century A.D. This too is a cult image
of Vamana.
