The Development of Hindu Iconography c19.s6.7

Language: English

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It will be of interest now to notice some of the mediaeval sculptures which in a very characteristic manner illustrate the fusion of, or rapprochement between, two, three or even four rival cults. The Hari-Haramūrti (or Haryardha aspect of Siva to a Saiva) emphasises the reconciliation between the two major cults of Vaiṣṇavism and Śaivism. One of the earliest stone reliefs representing this composite divinity is to be found at Badami, and is illustrated here (Pl. XLVI, Fig. 3). The four-armed god stands erect facing front, his back right and left hands holding a battle-axe with a snake entwined round it and a conch-shell (the respective emblems of Śiva and Viṣṇu), his front right hand is broken, the front left being in the kaṭihasta pose. The clear line of demarcation between the left (Hari) and the right (Hara) halves is emphasised by the treatment of the crown (the right part of it shows a jaṭāmukuṭa, while the left part a kirīṭamukuṭa), the two different ear-rings (a sarpa-kuṇḍala in the right ear, and a nakra- or makara-kuṇḍala in the left ear), the already noted emblems in the back hands, and the presence of the bull-faced Nandī and Pārvatī on the right, and that of the slightly pot-bellied dwarfish Garuḍa and gracefully standing Lakṣmī on the left. On the lower section of the panel are to be seen the dwarfish figures of the Śivagaṇas, some dancing and others playing on musical instruments.

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A mediaeval sculpture from Bihar (now in the collection of the Indian Museum) does not contain all these elaborate features, but the right and left parts of the combined image stand for Hara and Hari, and the Hara aspect is emphasised by the ūrdhaliṅga sign not always present in such images. In such composite icons, the left side is invariably assigned to Hari or Viṣṇu. Viṣṇu was Mohinī, the beautiful female form assumed by him while distributing nectar churned out of the ocean by the Devas and the Asuras to deprive the latter of their share of it by bewitching them with her beauty; Śiva fell in love with this aspect of Viṣṇu. Another very interesting composite sculpture from Bihar (now an exhibit in the Gupta Gallery of the Archaeological Section of the Indian Museum) shows the four-armed Hari-Hara in the centre, the back hands carrying a trident and a conch-shell, and the front hands a skull-cup (?) and a discus; he bears the other usual features, and there are some attendants by his side. But what is unique in this sculpture is the presence of standing Buddha and Sūrya in the right and left sides of Hari-Hara. The halos round the heads of Buddha and Sūrya (the former stands on a double-petalled lotus and the latter on his seven-horsed chariot driven by Aruṇa) and the separate sections of the pedestal allotted to them prove that they are no mere attendants here, but are really cult objects for worship.

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Thus, this unique sculpture demonstrates in a striking manner not only the combination of Hindu deities of Śiva, Viṣṇu and Sūrya, but also that of Buddha with them (PL. XLVIII, Fig. 1). The direct association of the Bodhisattva Lokeśvara (Padmapāṇi, Avalokiteśvara) with Brahmanical Hindu cult deities is further emphasised by two unique sculptures in the collection of the Asutosh Museum, University of Calcutta, both hailing from Eastern India. The beautifully carved brass figure of Śiva-Lokeśvara shows the composite two-armed ithyphallic god standing in the samapādasthānaka pose, on a double-petalled lotus, his right hand holding a kapāla and the left a triśūla; he is very sparsely ornamented, bears the tiny seated figure of the Dhyānī-Buddha Amitābha on the top of his jaṭāmukuṭa, and has two standing male figures on his either side. The śiraścakra with superposed ‘umbrellas’, the gracefully carved oblong prabhā with stylised swans dancing on the transom ends, the small figures of the donors and an unidentifiable miniature figure on the top left corner of the prabhā, the plain and simple triratha pedestal, and the delicate carving of the main figure and its two attendants endow the whole sculpture with a quality and character not usually met with in such hieratic sculptures. The sculpture hails from Barisal (East Bengal) and is a striking object of art of the early mediaeval period (PL. XLVI, Fig. 4).

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A fragmentary relief from Eastern India (only the head and upper part of the torso with multiple arms, some intact, others broken, are preserved), probably from Orissa, now in the collection of the Asutosh Museum, shows also in an interesting manner the combined representation of Sūrya and Lokeśvara. The composite god appears to have been ten-armed, six of whose hands are gone; of the remaining four hands, two right hold a noose (?) and a full-blossomed lotus flower by its stalk, the two left holding a similar full-blown lotus by its stalk and another indistinct object. The tiny figure of the Dhyāni-Buddha Amitābha seated on the top of the raised coils of jaṭāmukuṭa indicates the Lokeśvara character of the god, while the full-blown lotuses held by his two parallel hands on either side in a manner in which they are shown in the hands of a North-Indian Sun-icon emphasise his solar nature; the lower portion of the god being gone, we cannot be sure whether there were boots in his legs or seven horses being driven by Aruṇa carved on the pedestal, and such other characteristics of a north-Indian Sūrya figure. The sculpture with its pointed torus-prabhāvalī can be dated in the late eleventh century or early twelfth century A.D. (Pl. XLVIII, Fig. 3).