Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c13.s7.59

c13.s7.59

In the images Kārttikeya is shown as a two-armed figure, holding the right hand in *abhayamudrā* and Śakti in the left hand. Hence he was called Śaktidhara. Sometimes a cock and sometimes a peacock are depicted as his Vāhanas. An important inscribed image of Kārttikeya has been found in a well at Mathura which shows that the model of the Karttikeya image was derived from the early standing Bodhisattva type in Kushāṇa art. [Fig. 179]. Kārttikeya became increasingly of greater importance until in the Gupta period he attained the status almost of a national deity, as is evident from the great epic-poem *Kumāra-sambhava* by Kālidāsa. The number of images also increased in the Gupta period. We also find the representation of Kumārī as one of the divine mothers.