The Development of Hindu Iconography c19.s6.7.1

c19.s6.7.1

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.