Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c13.s7.37

c13.s7.37

There are also other image of Viṣṇu with eight hands holding different attributes. There are some statues showing four-armed standing Viṣṇu with Lakṣmī by the side and a small figure of Garuḍa in between them. With the development of the Pañcharātra-Bhāgavata cult there was an elaboration in the iconographic representation of Viṣṇu. In the Gupta period we come across three types of Viṣṇu images in the Mathura school (1) Standing images—(Sthānaka mūrti) of Viṣṇu alone with four arms holding four āyudhas (attributes), (2) The Nṛisiṃha-Varāha-Viṣṇu with a central human face and a Varāha face projecting on one shoulder and a lion face on the other. [Fig.171]. This composite image is very often described in the Purāṇic literature and is also described as the image of Mahā-Viṣṇu or Viśva-rūpa-Viṣṇu (i. e. Viṣṇu in cosmic form). In the Gupta sculpture of the Mathura school several important images of this type have been found. There is a special group of images in which besides the two extra heads of Varāha and Nṛisiṃha a number of other divine figures like the 8 Vasus, 11 Rudras and 12 Ādityas etc. are also depicted on the halo of the divine figure as forming part of his litany. These typical examples represent Mahā-Viṣṇu in his cosmic form. [Fig. 171].