The Development of Hindu Iconography c19.s6.19.1

c19.s6.19.1

A miniature figure of the Dhyānī-Buddha Amitābha is placed just above the central snake-hood, and a six-armed dancing figure of Śiva is carved inside a medallion on the middle face of the pañcaratha pedestal below. The figure of dancing Śiva on its pedestal also introduces some Śaiva element in it, and the snake-hoods remind one of Balarāma; the sculpture is of about the twelfth century A.D. (Pl. XLVIII, Fig. 4). Another very interesting image of this type in the same Museum (Exhibit No. 661) originally procured from Kalandarpur in the district of Bogra, North Bengal, though similar to the above in some respects, has some differences. It belongs to the sub-variety of Viṣṇu image named Śrīdhara (according to the Agnipurāṇa and Rūpamaṇḍana), as the cakra and gadā are placed on full-blown lotuses on the back right and back left hands respectively, while the front right and front left hands hold a lotus-bud and a tiny conch-shell. The snake-hoods are absent, and there are two tiny kneeling figures on the lowermost corners of the stele, whose identity is uncertain; other iconographic features (Dhyānī-Buddha on the top and dancing Śiva on the bottom etc.) are the same as in the Surohor relief.¹ It will be interesting to compare these two sculptures with some multi-armed images, generally in stone, which have been described by R. D. Banerjee as Lokeśvara-Viṣṇu images (E.I.S.M.S., pp. 94-6, 125, Pl. XXXVIII).