Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c17.52

c17.52

SŪRYA—It is seen in a twofold form, the earlier of Śunga period on the Bodhgaya railing with the Indian deity driving in a chariot of four-horses representing the four regions of space. In the Kushāṇa period appears a new form of Sūrya wearing northern dress, attended by Daṇḍa and Piṅgala, Rājñī and Nikshubhā, Ushā and Pratyūshā, holding a dagger or lotuses and riding in a chariot driven by Aruṇa and drawn by two or four horses whose number finally became seven. His worship as Mitra was spread from India up to Sasanian Iran. The full-blown lotuses became a prominent symbol of Sūrya together with a coat of mail. We know from the list of ancient obscure religions cults that there was a special cult of Sūrya under the name of Sūrya Maha together with that of Chandra Maha; the latter playing only a secondry role in iconography, being once depicted in a Mathura terracotta and carved in a bas-relief from Garhwa.