Viśvarūpa

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Vaikuṇṭha-Viśvarūpa Vol. II

29. DREIKOPFIGER VIṢṆU

Steinplatte: 67 x 105 x 16

Visnufigur: 48

Inschrift: 6 x 15

urspr. 4 Hande

Steintor oberhalb des Nilankantha-Temples, Berfestung Kalanjara/Kalinjar, Banda District, Uttar Pradesh.

29.1 DESCRIPTION:

A rectangular slab of grey stone, carved in relief with four friezes of figures and a fifth band of Śivaliṅgas at the top; at the centre, on a slightly projecting ledge, stands a figure of three-headed Viṣṇu, damaged and eroded. The slab belongs to a recently recognised category of Hindu sacred Sculptures which are termed silapattas or devapattas; these have been brought to light chiefly by Dr. N. P. Joshi since 1989 in the following publications:

"Gvaliar sangrahalaya ka varanasi silapatta tatha anya samakalina ankana", Puratana VI, 1989: 151-153;

"Varanasi Silapattas and other Similar Slabs in Mediaeval Sculptures of Central India", Proceedings of the Bhopal Seminar 1989;

"Devapattas: A Less-Known Chapter of Medieval Hindu Iconography", T. S. Maxwell (ed.), Eastern Approaches, Delhi 1992: 133-140.

The present devapatta was found within the fortifications of Kalanjara (modern Kalinjar), at an altitude of 1,300 feet (400 metres), on the northwestern edge of the extensive plateau on the summit of the mountain, built into the southwest face of an arched stone darwaza, overlooking the rock-cut Nilakantha temple complex (see Map of Kalanjara in this Report). I am grateful to Dr. N. P. Joshi of Banaras and to Dr. S. K. Sullerey of Jabalpur for drawing this piece to my attention.

The composition of the tablet consists of five horizontal friezes in low relief aligned one above the other on the rectangular backslab, which is bisected by a standing figure of Vaikuṇṭha in high relief placed vertically at the centre on a projecting ledge. The base is plain except for the brief inscription (see 29.1.2 below) beneath the Vaikuṇṭha image.

The severely damaged and eroded Vaikuṇṭha figure stands in a pronounced ābhaṅga posture with the left hip thrown out, the weight pivoting on the left foot, and the abdominal region turned to the right; at the same time, however, the upper torso, the broken central face, and both feet appear to have faced the front. There were originally four arms, all now broken. The remains indicate that all the upper arms were lowered, the inner pair perhaps resting the hands on the haloes of two diminutive flanking figures; from the remains of the outer pair, the left hand appears to have rested on the hip, while the right may have been raised in a (?vyākhyānamudrā) to the chest. The central and right face have been struck off, but the damaged left face was that of an animal with gaping jaws, apparently that of a maned lion (which, presumably representing the face of Nṛsiṃha, would thus appear opposite its usual position on the proper right). The body-ornament consists of a short necklace with elongated pendants, a longer necklace hanging on the centre of the chest, a prominent yajṅopavīta, a girdle and looped sashes. The pair of small flanking figures consists of a female on the proper right holding a cāmara in her left hand, and a male on the proper left with left hand resting on his left thigh; this positioning, and their postures, suggests that they were copied from a pair of āyudhapuruṣas, with the male Cakrapuruṣa (personification of the disk of Viṣṇu) under one of his left hands, and the female Gadadevi (the personified mace) below one of the right hands.

The emblems and figures on the five friezes which from the background for this Vaikuṇṭha icon are the following:

5.) The top band represents a row of 14 Śivaliṅgas, of which the sixth from the left is now missing; the rest are all damaged in greater or lesser degree. The 1st, 7th, 10th and 11th from the left have clearly incised brahmasutras; the 2nd and 12th are Ekamukhalingas; and the 13th has a relief on the shaft representing a fight between a man and a rampant lion.

4.) The fourth band represents a row of nine four-armed figures seated in lalitasana on very low stools, their knees turned outward, the right foot on the ground and the Ieft on the edge of the seat. These are arranged in a group of five on the observer's left and four on the right. Their faces and hand-held attributes have all been damaged beyond recognition. Dr. Sullerey thinks they may have been "a cluster of Camundas or the Navadurga" (proceedings of the Indian History Congress, Gorakhpur: 2).

3.) The third band contains a group of five Gaṇeśas on the observer's left, seated in the same posture as the nine figures in the register above. These appear to have been four-armed, with the axe in one of the right hands; the remaining attributes are unrecognisable due to erosion. On the observer's right in the same register appear a further six figures. The First three form a group, standing in samābhaṅga with their front hands joined in the namaskāramudrā and their rear arms lowered; their faces and attributes are damaged beyond recognition. The next three figures are seated goddesses, the first a Matrka with a child on her left knee, the second representing Sarasvati with a vina held transversely across her body, and the third an unidentifiable deity.

2.) The left half of the second band consists of a frieze of seven apparently identical Surya (Āditya) figures holding a lotus in each hand. A group of similar figures on the right side was most probably intended to represent the remaining five of the 12 Ādityas; they are also severely eroded. At the right-hand end of this register there appears a corpulent male figure squatting with what seems to be a large mace laid across his knees (Sullerey refers to this as a siddha-puruṣa with a yogapatta around his knees, but this in inaccurate).

1.) The lowest band contains 12 apparently identical standing figures, six to a side, representing four-armed Viṣṇu.

The background of the Vaikuṇṭha image thus contains:

14 Śivaliṅgas

9 Durgās

5 Ganapatis

3 gods and their 3 consorts (?)

12 Ādityas

12 Viṣṇu aspects

1 unidentified figure.

The three upper registers (5, 4, 3) represent deities associated with Saivism and Saktism; while the two lower friezes (2, 1) contain 24 ironic forms (caturvimsatimurti) of the Viṣṇu-and-Surya cult.

29.1.2 INSCRIPTION:

The inscription appears on the front of the slight projecting ledge on which the main central figure of the tablet stands, a damaged surface measuring only 6 x 15 centimetres. The characters have been seriously eroded and are legible only in part. Dr. Joshi has not commented on it to my knowledge, but Dr. Sullerey claims to be able to read the following text: (sri) Vaikuṇṭha (sya pattah) karitah (unpublished Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, Gorakhpur: 3). Due to the breakage and erosion, I was not able to distinguish all these characters, but my decipherment of the second word is the same, though I cannot see the -sya of a genitive ending. From my observations, sketches and photographs I read the visarga of a nominative, thus: [sr]i ve/Vaikuṇṭhah.

(See copies of the name Vaikuṇṭha in the Khajuraho and Kalanjara inscriptions attached to this Report.)

This reading, combined with the location of the tablet in the most famous fortress of the Candellas some 75 kilometres northwest of Khajuraho, makes the identification of the central figure as Vaikuṇṭha, in the specifically Candella understanding of the term, conclusive. I cannot agree with Dr. Sullerey that this proves the existence of Pancaratra influence, either at Kalanjara or at Khajuraho (see Sculpture 23 in this Report). The worn condition of the characters precludes a highly detailed palaeographical comparison; but the style of the aksaras employed in the name Vaikuṇṭha on the Kalanjara tablet and in the Dhaṅga inscription in the Laksman temple at Khajuraho (AD 954) appear similar, but certainly not identical, in the formation of va-, ka-, and the conjunct n- (the anusvara is not used in the name, either at Kalanjara or Khajuraho), though the vowel-sign for-u seems to follow a different convention. Dr. Sullerey thinks that the Kalanjara inscription "may belong to the 10th-11th century A.D." (unpublished proceedings of the Indian History Congress, Goraphpur: 3).is reading. Combined with the location of the tablet in the most famous

29.2 HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION:

The question must arise as to why the god Vaikuṇṭha is represented at Kaianjara on a small devapatta, along with numerous other deities, rather than as a major god in his own temple, as at Khajuraho.

The fortress on the plateau of Kaianjara mountain, at an altitude of 1,340 feet (408 metres: "so high that it impedes the progress of the sun at mid-day": Khajuraho inscr. of Candella Dhaṅga, AD 954. stanza 31), entirely surrounded by rocky slopes which are particularly steep on the northern and western flanks, ranked with Gopadri/ Gwalior as the most secure stronghold in mediaeval India.

It was held by the Gurjara-Pratīhāras of Kanauj from circa AD 836 (DHNI II: 741) until taken by the Rastrakutas under Kṛṣṇa III sometime before the mid-10th century; it was then swiftly captured from them by Candella Yasovarman at some point before AD 954 (Khajuraho inscription of Candella Dhaṅga, VS 1011/AD 954), after which it remained in Candella hands for a considerable period.

Kalanjara/Kalinjar was well known to the Islamic forces of Mahmud of Ghazni, who beseiged it in vain, while it was held by the Candellas, during their campaign of AH 413/AD 1022; Nizam ud-Din, in his Tabaqat-i- Akbari, wrote that Kalanjara "has no equal in the whole country of Hindustan for strength and impregnability" (DHNI: 692. Circa AD 1030, al-Biruni wrote in his Kitab al-Hind:

"Marching from Kanoj [Kanyakubja/Kanauj] towards the south-east, on the western side of the Ganges, you come to the realm of Jajahuti [Jejakabhukti], 30 farsakh from Kanoj. The capital of the country is Kajuraha [Kharjuravahaka/Khajuraho]. Between this town and Kanoj there are two of the most famous of the fortresses of India. Gwaliyar [Gopadri/Gwalior] and Kalanjar [Kalanjara/Kalinjar]". (Sachau I: 202).

Kalanjara was wrested from the Candellas by the Ghaznavid army under Qutb ud-Din Aibak in AH 599/AD 1202. The Candella king, Paramardi, and later his chief minister, submitted to Aibak, as Hasan Nizami recorded in his contemporary account in the Taj ul-Ma'athir (AD 1205-1217):

"On Monday, the 20th of Rajab, the garrison, in an extreme state of weakness and distraction, came out of the fort and by compulsion left their native place empty ... and the fort of Kalinjar which was celebrated throughout the world for being so strong as the Wall of Alexander" was taken, and "the government of Kalinjar was conferred on Hazabbaru-d-din Hasan Arnal." (DHNI II: 720-722)

It appears to have been taken back, however, by the successor of Paramardi. Candella Trailokyavarman, sometime after ca. AD 1205 (DHNI II: 726-727).

From late in the reign of Dhaṅga (circa AD 954-1002) onwards, Candella kings took the title Lord of Kalanjara (kalanjaradhipati, kalanjaragiripati: DHNI II: 679, 698, 713) as a sign of military strength.

Kalanjara was also known to the Candellas as "the dwelling place of Nilakantha (Śiva)": nilakanthadhivasam ... kalanjaradrim (Khajuraho inscription of Dhaṅga in the Laksman temple. VS 1011/AD 954: stanza 31; see Epigraphia Indica I: 127-128). The mountain appears in fact to have been a stronghold of Saivism at least since the 5th-6th century: J. N. Banerjea (Development of Hindu Iconography, Calcutta 1956: 182-183) notes that among the clay seals discovered by Marshall at Bhita, one depicts a mound of round rocks with a Sivalinga at the top and a wavy line below, bearing the legend in Gupta characters kalanjara-bhattaraka: Lord of Kalanjara. The cave temple complex of Śiva as Nilakantha, set in a rocky depression on the northwestern edge of the summit of Kalanjara mountain, is still known by this name today (February 1992). References in the Mahabharata indicate that the sanctity of the mountain is far older even than the Gupta period:

atra kalanjaram nama parvatam lokavisrutam tatra devahrade snatva gosahasraphalam labhet yah snatas tarpayet tara girau kalanjare nrpa svargaloke mahiyeta naro nasty atra samsayah

(Mahabharata, Vanaparavan, Tirthayatra parvadhyaya: 85.56-57)

The sacred lake (devahrada) mentioned in this passage as conferring vast material and spiritual benefits, would refer to one of the natural pools still to be found on the summit of the mountain (see Abbreviated Map of Kalanjara in this Report).

The importance of Kalanjara mountain to the Candellas - as an almost impregnable stronghold on their northern frontier (75 kilometres northeast of Khajuraho), as a symbol of royal power, and as a holy place-cannot therefore be underestimated.

The Candella and other Hindu temples on the mountain were converted into mosques in AD 1202 on the orders of Qutb ud-Din Aibak, "the very name of idolatry was annihilated" (Hasan Nizami, Taj ul-Ma'athir: DHNI II: 720-721), and the only important Hindu centre to remain is the Nilakantha cave complex. There is therefore no significant surviving evidence for the historical existence of any cult other than that of Śiva on the mountain, except for the devapatta near the ancient Nilakantha cave-temples.

It may be the case that this small votive tablet is the only manifestation of Vaisnavism on Kalanjara precisely because of the otherwise exclusive association of the mountain with the cult of Śiva. The row of Śivaliṅgas and the group of Durgās at the top of the stele would thus represent the prevalent cult practised on the mountain, into which the central Vaikuṇṭha figure was introduced as a relatively junior deity. The reason for the introduction of this god, with his royal and foreign associations, to the ancient stronghold of Śiva, is almost certainly connected with the strategic importance of Kalanjara in protecting the Candella kingdom (particularly its sacred centre at Khajuraho) on its northern frontier. The Candella image of Vaikuṇṭha was above all a symbol of Candella royalty, from the time of Yasovarman onward. It would therefore have been politically important to establish the Vaikuṇṭha cult on Kalanjara, but this move may well have been resisted by a conservative Śaiva priesthood which had been established on the mountain for at least 500 years. In this sensitive situation, a votive plaque representing the Candella Vaikuṇṭha, yet containing Śaiva symbolism and attached to an existing Śaiva temple at Kalanjara, rather than the creation of a separate Vaikuṇṭha shrine on the mountain, was probably the only acceptable solution. The Vaikuṇṭha tablet would thus represent a compromise between political and religious requirements. This would explain the appearance of Vaikuṇṭha in the diminutive form of a tablet, and the iconographic content of that tablet, but the question remains as to its date.

29.2.1 CHRONOLOGY

It is known that the god Vaikuṇṭha was established at Khajuraho late in the reign of Candella Yasovarman (circa AD 925-950), and that his son Dhaṅga had completed a temple dedicated to Viṣṇu in this form by AD 954 (see Sculpture 23 in this Report). Stone images of Vaikuṇṭha, or similar multiheaded images of Viṣṇu, were made there, and at Rakhetra/Thuvon and Kāśī/Varanasi on the western and eastern frontiers of the kingdom (see Sculptures 27 and 28 in this Report), from about that time onward. Two temples of later date at Khajuraho, the Citragupta temple of Surya (circa AD 1000-1025) and the Kandariya Mahādeva temple of Śiva (circa AD 1025-1050), include images of the Vaikuṇṭha type in their iconographic programmes (see Sculptures 20, 21, 26 in this Report). Two decontextualised images of the Vaikuṇṭha type in the Archaeological Museum at Khajuraho (see Sculptures 24 and 25 in this Report) can also be dated, on stylistic grounds, to the 10th/11th century.

The iconography of Vaikuṇṭha thus existed at Khajuraho, and elsewhere in the Candella kingdom, at least during the hundred years between circa AD 950 and 1050. It is therefore reasonable to date the Vaikuṇṭha tablet on Kalanjara mountain to this period or somewhat later. Although the majority of Candella inscriptions from Kalanjara are dated in the reigns of later rulers, Madanavarman (circa AD 1128-1163) and Paramardi (circa AD 1167-1203), there is no other evidence that images of the Vaikuṇṭha type were any longer being produced in the 12th and 13th centuries in Bundelkhand, although Dr. Joshi (T. S. Maxwell, ed., Eastern Approaches, Delhi 1992: 134) dates the Kalanjara Vaikuṇṭha plate to the 13th century, but without adducing evidence. Dr. Sullerey (unpublished Proceedings of Indian History Congress, Gorakhpur: 3-4), on the other hand, assigns it to the reign of Candella Yasovarman (circa AD 925-950).

Yasovarman had taken Kalanjara (most probably from the Rastrakutas) before AD 954, when the mountain is included in the landmarks of his son Dhaṅga's kingdom in his Khajuraho inscription. It is perfectly possible that Yasovarman had at least one stone copy made from the Kashmiri Vaikuṇṭha icon that he acquired from Pratīhāra Devapala in the Siyadoni/Siron - Raketra/ Thuvon region circa AD 945 (see Sculpture 27 in this Report). But the artistic style, both of the Rakhetra/Thuvon fragment and of the Vaikuṇṭha sculpture in the sanctum of the Laksman temple at Khajuraho, is quite different to that of the Kalanjara figure. The pronounced ābhaṅga posture, the placement of the left hand on the hip, the simplified jewellery of the necklace and the arm-rings, and the very large size of the remaining animal-head, all indicate a later date. The Kalanjara figure of Vaikuṇṭha in fact bears a striking stylistic resemblance rather to the 11th-century Vaikuṇṭha/Viśvarūpa sculpture in the Rajasthan State Museum at Bharatpur (T. S. Maxwell, "The Viśvarūpa from Bhusawar at Bharatpur", Eastern Approaches. Delhi 1992: 155-167), which includes on the top of its framework two bands of group-deities aligned in friezes very like those on the Kalanjara tablet, and in which the central figure is in the same ābhaṅga posture and wears similar ornaments. I am therefore inclined to assign both to the 11th century, between the dates suggested by Sullerey (10th century) and Joshi (13th century); Sullerey admits that the characters of the inscription could be either of the 10th or 11th century (unpublished Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, Gorakhpur: 3).

The principal Candella successors to Dhaṅga (circa AD 954-1002) in the 11th century were:

1.) Vidyādhara (circa AD 1019-1051), the most powerful military leader in North India during the first half of the 11th century, who is known to have held Kalanjara during a long siege laid by Mahmud of Ghazni in AH 413/AD 1022 without giving battle;

3.)Devavarman (active in AD 1051), elder son of Vijayapāla; and

4.) his younger brother Kirtivarman, whose only known date is AD 1098, and who appears to have restored the kingdom after the depredations of the Kalacuris of Dahala under Lakṣmī-Karna (circa AD 1042-1070; described by Bilhana in the Vikramankadevacarita as "the God of Death to the Lord of Kalanjara" : kalah kalanjaragiripater yah: DHNI: 698); the Prabodha-candrodaya of Krsnamisra in one passage compares the valorous chief minister of Kirtivarman, Gopala, both to the Man-Lion incarnation (nṛsiṃharūpa) and to the Varāha (mahāvarāha), thus conceivably reflecting the iconographic imagery of Vaikuṇṭha sculptures current at the time.

Of these four kings, it is clear that Vidyādhara has the strongest association with Kalanjara; and he was recognised by the Muslim writers as the most powerful North Indian ruler of the time. On the other hand, Kirtivarman and his minister Gopala are highly praised in Sanskrit literature as well as in inscriptions for saving the kingdom. There is no basis for making a final decision as to which of these rulers was in control of the Candella territories when the Vaikuṇṭha tablet was installed in Kalanjara fort; though until more evidence becomes available, it can be provisionally dated to the 11th century. In my view, a date late in that century, in the reign of Kirtivarman, appears more probable, as the style of the tablet is not comparable to sculpture on the Kandariya Mahādeva temple at Khajuraho (the latest there to contain Vaikuṇṭha iconography), which was erected in the second quarter of the 11th century.

Kalanjara, late 11th century.

29.2.2 PRELIMINARY IDENTIFICATION:

In view of both the iconography (Vaiṣṇava, with an animal side-head) and the inscription ([sr]i Vaikuṇṭhah), there can be no doubt that the central figure on this tablet represents Vaikuṇṭha in the Candella understanding of the name. Indeed, this is the only Viṣṇu icon of the animal-headed type discovered in the Candella kingdom which bears an inscription directly attributing this name to the god.

The Śivaliṅgas, Nava-Durgās, and Panca-Gaṇeśas on the stele represent the Śaiva cults already existing on Kalanjara mountain, while the Ādityas and multiple Viṣṇus represent the many forms of Vāsudeva-Viṣṇu which were considered subsidiary to his Vaikuṇṭha form.

The tablet as a whole represents the installation of the royal Candella Vaikuṇṭha icon on Kalanjara in a diminutive form acceptable to the long established Śaiva priesthood of the mountain.

Nr. 29: Kalanjara

Nilakantha - Tempelbezirk

30. MEHRKOPFIGER VIṢṆU

Stein: 24 x 28

6 Hande

Gadhwa, Allahabad District, Uttar Pradesh (SML/B223.8)

30.1 DESCRIPTION:

A detailed description and discussion of this image is given in my book, Viśvarūpa (1988: 131-136). It was re-examined and re-documented in 1992, in the course of which certain details were observed which are recorded below in relation to the descriptions of Viśvarūpa given in the Bhagavadgītā.

The Viśvarūpa image forms the centrepiece of a long stone slab, at the ends of which appear the sun- and moon-gods, from whom processions issue and proceed toward the centre; some of the participants, who appear to be pilgrims, are shown being served with food in a building near the centre.

The Viśvarūpa image is shown standing inside a small square room, evidently a temple sanctum, with a wall to its right and an entrance to its left. Before the image, just inside the entrance, kneels a man with his hands apparently in the attitude of worship, while a bearer stands outside in the antechamber (the back wall of which is shown), holding a parasol - an emblem of very high status - through the doorway and over the head of the devotee, who must therefore be regarded as a man of noble rank.

30.1.2 HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION:

The historical importance of this piece lies mainly in the following factors:

1. It proves that in the late 5th century AD, the Viśvarūpa cult extended over a considerable part of the northern Gupta territories, though perhaps restricted to the Yamuna valley, from the region north of Mathura (one Viśvarūpa fragment was found in Bhankari in Aligarh District) to the area south of the confluence with the Ganges (Gadhwa lies 40 km S. of Allahabad).

2. It indicates that the Viśvarūpa cult at this time and in this region was definitely established as a temple-cult associated with pilgrimages and popular festivals, and that the principal devotees were men of high (kṣatriya) status. This latter point suggests that the image did indeed represent the Viśvarūpa of the Bhagavadgītā, and that the kṣatriya devotees regarded Arjuna as their archetype. Some later Viśvarūpa images continued to include in their composition a figure of Arjuna kneeling at the feet of the deity.

3. The figure shows that several features of the Bhagavadgītā descriptions were incorporated into the iconography of the images: chiefly the mass of fire and light, the multiplicity of heads, the worshipping kṣatriya figure, and the Vaiṣṇava identity of the deity (indicated in the sculpture by the vanamālā, the tall kirīṭa-crown, and the two pairs of flanking figures - presumably the saktis and the āyudhapuruṣas; close inspection shows that the object under the lowered left hand of the god, resting on the head of the outer left figure, was the spoked disk or cakra, as conventional in Viṣṇu iconography).

4. There is a suggestion, not by any means conclusive because of the condition of the piece, that already at this stage a horse-headed figure (Hayagrīva) was associated with multi-formed and multi-headed Viṣṇu; this association persists later in both the Gurjara-Pratīhāra and the Candella territories. Attention should therefore be given to the possibility of further evidence of this nature from the Gupta period being brought to light.

5. The profile head of the Boar (Varāha), can still be seen angled upward to the proper left of the human face of the god; although the corresponding Lion (Nṛsiṃha) profile cannot be seen on the right, the presence of the Varāha head indicates that at Gadhwa as at Mathura, it was the figure of three-faced Viṣṇu with two animal-avatāra side-heads which formed the basis of the Viśvarūpa icon.

6. Close inspection of the surrounding disembodied heads within the fire-nimbus shows that some, possibly all, of these were represented with open mouths; this important detail conforms to the descriptions of Viśvarūpa in the Bhagavadgītā (see below, 30.1.3), where the god in this form is seen as devouring the creation.

30.1.3 ICONOGRAPHICAL INTERPRETATION:

There can be no doubt that the textual source for the iconography of this image was the Bhagavadgītā. The chief characteristic elements of the composition of the sculpture were clearly based directly on portions of this text, though interpreted through existing iconographic forms:

The central figure is that of Mahayogesvara Hari (BhG. 11.9), conceived in terms of the conventional cult image of Vāsudeva-Viṣṇu with two extra arms. The god in this form is said to wear a waistcloth and a garland (ambara, malya: BhG. 11.11), body ornaments (abharana: BhG. 11.10) and the royal crown (kirīṭa: BhG. 11.17,46), and to hold the two weapons (āyudha: BhG. 11.10), mace and disk (gadā, cakra: BhG. 11.17,46). The figure of the deity in the Gadhwa relief corresponds to this description, with the addition of the Varāha (and Narasiṃha) side-heads (borrowed from the iconography of Mathura, where these two heads define the anthropomorphic god as Viṣṇu, source of the avatāras), the two saktis, the two weapon-personifications, and an extra pair of hands, apparently added to indicate so support the cluster of heads.

The many heads represent the numerous mouths (anekavaktra, bahuvaktra: BhG.11.16, 23) which face in all directions (viśvatomukha: BhG. 10.33, 11.11) and represent Time (kala: BhG. 10.33). These fiery mouths (vadanair jvaladbhih: BhG. 11.30) are described as gaping (vyattanana: BhG. 11.24), like the Fire of Time (kālāgnisannibhah: BhG. 11.25). The nimbus of flame in the sculpture represents Time in this imagery of devouring fire (Kālāgni), which is inseparable from the metaphor of licking, devouring mouths; it is this which gives rise to the mass of light blazing on all sides (tejorasim sarvato diptimantam) which has the brilliance of the sun and fire (diptanalarkadyuti: BhG. 11.17).

The figure at the apex, which seems to be two-armed and horse-headed, and to emerge from the crown of Viṣṇu, may in part be a visual reference to BhG. 10.27, where Kṛṣṇa says that among horses he is Uccaihsravas, although the appearance of the avatāra Hayagrīva in iconographic combination with Viṣṇu is an ancient phenomenon, particularly in Viśvarūpa iconography; this Gadhwa relief may represent one of the earliest examples of this association.

30.2 PRELIMINARY IDENTIFICATION:

Viśvarūpa of the Bhagavadgītā as a cult-icon installed in the sanctum of its own temple, the focus of both aristocratic and popular worship.

Gadhwa, AD 475-500: circa AD 485.

Nr. 30: Gadhwa SML

D:alphasitereporta-2/Ma : UPDATE 1992

31. MEHRKOPFIGER VIṢṆU

Stein: 64 x 37.5 x 14

urspr. 8 Hande

Manwadhi, Sitapur District, Uttar Pradesh (SML/H124)

Sonderbericht: Revised and expanded at Lucknow, 20.02.1992

The sculpture was discovered at Manwadhi in Sitapur District, Uttar Pradesh, to the north of Lucknow¹. The top of the sculpture is broken off, and the upper portion of the remainder is damaged on both sides; in its present condition, the piece is 64 cm in height. In a different context, it has been published by Professor Parimoo². The piece consists of a stele with a narrow base having three figures upon it, above which at the centre rises a standing figure of Viṣṇu with four avatāra faces. The margins of the stele, both on the base and above, are densely populated with minor figures; the narrow edges of this extraordinarily thin slab are also carved.

The main figure of Viṣṇu, slightly ābhaṅga with the weight on the right foot, was originally eight-armed. In the left hands, from top to bottom, are held the kheṭaka, cakra (edge on), its surfaces carved with lotus petals in place of spokes, dhanus (the double-curve type, with the bowstring turned to the front, and personified by a male figure holding a small flower in the raised right hand), and śaṅkha; on the right, one hand is missing, while the remaining three held the gadā (its presence implied by the position of the raised left arm), bānā (personified, as pointed out by Parimoo, in the form of a diminutive figure holding a cone-shaped quiver containing three or four arrows), and khaḍga (the blade of which is broken).

The jewellery consists of ear ornaments (damaged), a double necklace of pearls with central jewel, a long double-beaded yajṅopavīta, triple-wound keyūras, and plain bracelets, a decorated girdle, and the vanamālā. The clothing consists of an adhoṃśuka with a rolled waistband and pleats on the left thigh.

The avatāra heads are those of the MATSYA above NARASIṂHA on the right, and of KŪRMA above VARĀHA on the right (P1.2); the snout of the Varāha is concealed behind the cakra. The central face of Viṣṇu and the crown are entirely broken off.

31.1.2 The figures on the base

From the centre of the base arises BHUDEVI, the Earth-goddess, the point of her emergence from the surface of the plinth being concealed by the looped serpent-body of a Nāga. The upper body of the goddess is naked but for a single-strand pearl necklace and bracelets: the top of a lower garment appears below the navel. Her head rises between the feet of Viṣṇu, which she supports on the palms of her out-turned hands.

Bhūdevī is flanked by two NĀGAS, their human torsos larger than hers and their heads backed by five cobra hoods. The looped snake-body which conceals the lower body of Bhūdevī cannot logically belong to either of them, but is merely an artistic device. Their tails descend in undulating lines to the face of the plinth, where they are laterally intertwined and terminate in a curl. Their hands are extended and support the hands of Bhūdevī in holding up the figure of Viṣṇu.

A seated figure appears at each extremity of the plinth. That on the proper left represents a stout figure whose hair is combed straight back and who wears a necklace and long pendant ear-ornaments; the left leg is bent up under the belly in the kuncita position (the right is not visible). A dish is held on the palm of the right hand above the shoulder. The left hand, balled into a fist and resting on the thigh, originally held a long object, the damaged remains of which can be seen on the left knee. This appears to represent KUBERA or Dhanada, the Wealth-god. On the right end of the plinth kneels ARJUNA wearing a high crown (kirīṭa; Arjuna is called kirīṭin when he pays terrified obeisance to Viśvarūpa: Bhagavadgītā 11.35) with a diadem, necklace and bracelets, his hands joined in namaskāramudrā. In front of him, behind the body of the right-hand Nāga, stands his discarded bow, called Gandiva. This depiction of Arjuna worshipping the transfiguration of Kṛṣṇa after discarding his bow accords with the descriptions of him in the Bhagavadgītā: gandivam sramsate hastat; visrjya sasaram capam; krtanjalir vepamanah kiriti namaskrtva bhuya evaha krsnam sagadgadam bhitabhitah pranamya: 30,47; 11.35).

31.1.3 The figures on the stele

Two figures stand on pedestals on either side of the Viṣṇu figure, and smaller figures appear above them on the margins of the stele. To the immediate left of Viṣṇu stands LAKṢMĪ, her body bent to the left and her right hand raised to her breast; she holds no attributes. In the corresponding position on the right stands GARUḌA in fully anthropomorphic shape, a snake held in his left hand and his right raised on top of his head in salute. Beside Lakṣmī, on the left margin of the stele, stands a male figure in atibhaṅga posture, with the left hand on his thigh and the right raised to shoulder level holding a flower; the lower part of the bow held in the front left hand of Viṣṇu stands behind him and he is to be seen as the personification of this weapon, DHANUSPURUṢA. The left arm, extended downward with the elbow thrust out, represents the shape of the bow. In the corresponding location on the right edge stands the male figure holding the conical quiver beneath Viṣṇu's lowest right hand and representing the personified arrows, BANAPURUSA.

The remaining miniature figures on the higher margins of the stele are identifiable as follows. There are three on the proper left side, between the bow and the shield of Viṣṇu, and another above, between the shield and disk. The first is a GANDHARVA in the flying posture, the right hand raised in abhayamudra³. Above this is a figure mounted on an animal, who could easily be mistaken for Revanta, the son of the Sun, as a horseman (prsthe 'sve suryavat karyo revantas ca: Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa 3.70.5) with the royal parasol above his head, where a rounded surface, partly broken, appears in the relief⁴. This has been correctly interpreted by joshi⁵, however, as a "semicircular fluttering cloth." Close examination of this miniature figure shows that the damaged arc is incised with curved lines on the underside, representing folds of cloth, and that although the left hand is broken, the other end of this cloth is held by the right hand, which is just visible immediately below the elbow of the cakra-arm of Viṣṇu. This minute detail proves that the figure represents VAYU, or Pavana, the purifying Wind-god, holding the ends of his wind-filled garment in both hands (vayvapuritavastras ... grhitavastrantah karabhyam pavano: Viṣṇudharmottara 3.58.1c/2cd). The depiction of the vāhana as a horse, rather than as an antelope⁶, therefore appears to be a sculptor's error.

Thirdly, behind the shield, an ascetic figure with beard and jaṭābhāra is shown kneeling and holding what appears to be a kamaṇḍalu in his left hand against his chest⁷; being an isolated figure rather than one of a group, this probably represents AGNI, the Fire-god. Between the shield and the disk rises a small crowned figure holding two lotuses; the remains of other figures, now broken, to his right, indicates that this was one of a group of ĀDITYAS, the twelve aspects of the Sun-god, which originally appeared at the top of the stele on this side.

In the corresponding portion of the stele on the proper right, two figures are preserved. The lower of these represents YAMA holding the yamadanda in his right hand, mounted on the buffalo; the head of the animal is tilted upward, as if sharply reined-in, as in other miniature images of this god occurring on Viśvarūpa sculptures from the same region⁸. The upper figure depicts INDRA wearing a crown like that of Arjuna below, though without the diadem, holding an indistinct object (intended to represent the vajra) in his right hand, and mounted on the elephant Airāvata. A damaged figure higher up on this side, above the Matsya head of Viṣṇu, has the right hand raised in abhayamudrā; this may have been a small image of one of the avatāras, or one of a group of eleven Rudras.

As noted above, the narrow sides of the stele are also sculpted with reliefs which are invisible from the front.

On each side, behind the bow and quiver of Viṣṇu, a post with a thickened top is represented. A monkey sits on the top of the proper right post. A rope is shown tied around the top of each of the shafts, apparently tied to a cloth which streams out to the sides of the stele.

Above the post and ropes on each side and further to the rear, on the very narrow edge of the stele, rose two vertical rows of Bhairava faces. The series on the proper right began behind the figures of Yama and Indra, where only one face is preserved; that on the proper left, represented now by two faces, behind Vāyu and the flying Gandharva. These damaged remains indicate that each face was set upon its own trirekhā-marked neck, encircled by a necklace of rudrākṣa-beads, and that they were all provided with the vertical third eye of Śiva at the centre of the forehead and crowned with differing jaṭā-hairstyles.

The five surrounding gods on the plinth and stele (*31.1.3) appear to refer to the horizontal directions of space, for they are all Dikpālas: the east, south, and north respectively are protected by Indra, Yama, and Kubera; Vāyu and Agni are the gods of the north-west and the south-east. The three missing deities from the standard purāṇic list of eight would be Varuṇa, Nirrti, and Īśāna. These might have been shown on higher portions of the stele which are now lost, but this must be unlikely since above them begins the periphery of Bhairava faces, which in related icons from the same region contains the groups of Ādityas and Rudras. The full set of eight may not have been intended, the five which appear making adequate reference to the lateral directions. This is indeed suggested by the interposition within this group of two other figures on the base and higher up on the opposite side, which appear to symbolise the vertical dimensions of space: the earth, represented by Arjuna at the same level as the Earth-goddess at the centre, and the atmosphere above it indicated by the antarikṣaga or Gandharva figure. The tails of the Nāgas undulating across the base of the sculpture below the Earth-goddess extend this vertically downward, depicting the watery netherworld⁹. This spatial symbolism, though incomplete, provides sufficient iconographic indication of the traditional divisions of space which the giant central figure of Viṣṇu as Viśvarūpa penetrates and transcends: Arjuna in the Gītā says that he sees neither beginning, nor middle, nor end of his cosmic form¹⁰.

The sculpture belongs to the Viśvarūpa tradition which flourished north of the Ganges, chiefly represented by the Pratīhāra Kannauj Series; it may be regarded either as anterior to that series, the product of a different tradition, or as an early example of it. A date in the 7th century has been suggested, but in the evolution of Viśvarūpa iconography the image is a more immediate predecessor of the images produced by the Pratīhāras of Kanauj, and it is more properly datable to the 8th century. Within this period it could be associated with the reign of Yasovarman of Kanauj (circa AD 700-740) and the northern territories under his control; or it may have been produced in the aftermath of the defeat of Yasovarman by Lalitaditya Karkota of Kashmir, during the reigns in Kanauj of the vassal kings lndrayudha (dated AD 783, subject to Vatsaraja Pratīhāra) and his successor Cakrayudha (vassal of Dharmapala of Gauda). A later date, circa AD 800, would place the sculpture in the period of Nagabhatta II Pratīhāra, who at that time was pressing upon Kanauj and probably took it.

On balance, it seems most probable that the sculpture, with its pronounced spatial symbolism which was no doubt intended to reflect the geo-Political ambition of its patron, is a product of this early Pratīhāra contact with the area around the imperial city. Parts of previous Viśvarūpa images of this kind, which can be dated earlier in the 8th century, stem from territories already well under Pratīhāra control to the south-west; these are represented by the Tumain nimbus (see Bericht an die DFG vom 30.06.1990, S.172-177) and associated fragments (Eskenazi, Russek).

The sculpture shows Viṣṇu with four avatāra heads, flanked by small figures of directional deities and supported by both the Earth Goddess and Nāgas, being worshipped by Arjuna, in a clear reference to the eleventh chapter of the Bhagavadgītā. The image represents Viṣṇu as Viśvarūpa.

Late 8th century.

J. N. Banerjea, The Development of Hindu Iconography. Calcutta 1956(2).

D. C. Bhattacharyya, Pratimalaksana of the Viṣṇudharmottara. New Delhi 1991.

H. Hartel, Indische Skulpturen I. Berlin 1960.

N. P. Joshi, Brahmanical Sculptures in the State Museum, Lucknow. Part II, volume 1 (Śiva and Viṣṇu). Lucknow 1989.

T. S. Maxwell, Viśvarūpa. New Delhi 1988.

R. Parimoo, "Viṣṇu's Weapons and their Representation in Indian Art". Kalakshetra Quarterly. Madras, n.d.

Nr. 31: Manwadhi SML

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