The Development of Hindu Iconography c19.s6.7.3

c19.s6.7.3

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).