Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c13.s6.8

c13.s6.8

The interest of this find is enhanced by the fact that a somewhat mutilated specimen carved on both sides and similar to this group was found from Naroli village, about half a mile southeast of Maholi, in 1922-23, and is now in the Indian Museum, Calcutta. An exact copy of the reverse side of the Maholi Bacchanalian group is found reproduced in the upper panel of a jamb fragment (No. 371, Mathura M) which was rescued from the well of the famous Kankali Tila in 1914, which place also lies within a radius of two miles from Maholi. It is evident that the residents of the three villages, Palikhera, Naroli and Maholi, situated within less than a mile of each other, entered into a healthy rivalry each creating a bacchanalian group for itself and the artisans of Maholi excelled in their originality and workmanship. Another fact to be noted is that at Maholi the Bacchanalian group was found in association with a colossal Bodhisattva which shows that such groups were welcomed in Buddhist environment since they represented the cult of Kubera reconciled to the religion of the Buddha. A still greater degree of rapprochement is visible in the form of images and statuettes showing Kubera with his consort Hārītī holding a purse and a wine-cup or with drinking bowls placed in front of both when it appears that the worship of Kubera had become a regular cult as a benevolent deity offering wealth and of Hārītī as the presiding deity of children. The popularity of this cult is further shown by the discovery of independent statuettes of both Kubera and Hārītī. It appears that the developing iconography of Kubera drew to itself several strands, viz. the bacchanalian ideal of āpāna-goṣṭhī as popular amongst the Indian and the Indo-Greeks (Madraka-Yavana of the Mbh.) of the Panjab, who were following the cult of the Greek revelries. To this was added the cult of the Buddhist goddess Hārītī and that of the Brāhmanical goddess Bhadrā, both treated as consorts of Kubera or Pañchika.