The Development of Hindu Iconography c19.s6.23.3

c19.s6.23.3

These features are all peculiar to Śiva, and inspite of the additional traits like his lion mount, lotus emblem, etc., there is no difficulty in recognising in him one of the most prominent members of the Brahmanical triad. The ideology behind Siṃhanāda is explained in the *dhāraṇīs* in this way; he is the ‘healer of diseases’ (one of the traits of Śiva is also this). The names and iconographic traits of the other three varieties of Avalokiteśvara mentioned above leave little doubt about their being the Mahāyānist or Vajrayānist adaptations of the Hindu god. The fierce god Heruka, whose two-armed figures have been found in Eastern India, is usually shown as dancing on a corpse with *vajra* and *kapāla* in his hands, a *khaṭvāṅga* placed along the left part of his body, and with a garland of skulls (*muṇḍamālā*) on his breast; these features emphasise his Śaiva association. Yamāri, another fierce Vajrayāna deity, as its name indicates, is derived from Kālārimūrti of Śiva described in Chapter XI of this book. Some of the iconographic features of Yamāri, however, were adopted from the very god of Death, whose enemy he was supposed to have been. Like the Hindu god Yama he has a buffalo for his mount, and a mace with a skull painted on it with a *vajra* on its top, and a noose (*pāśa*) for his emblems; like Śiva he wears a tiger-skin and snake-ornaments.