The Development of Hindu Iconography c19.s6.8.3

c19.s6.8.3

its front two pairs of hands are broken, but the full-blown lotuses in one pair are visible; the back hands, which are preserved, carry, from the right side onwards, a khaṭvāṅga, a triśūla, a śakti, a *nīlotpala*, a *ḍamaru*, and a *sarpa*, flames issuing from its heads and shoulders (the Śivaite character of most of these emblems should be noted). The *dhyāna-mantra* of a particular variety of Sun (Mārttaṇḍa) appearing in the *Śāradātilakatantra* conforms to a great extent to its iconographic features, and the text says that such a variety of the Sun god is 'half' (a part) of Śiva (*Ballabhārddha*).¹ A composite representation of Brahmā and Sūrya can be recognised in the beautiful image of the 11th century A.D. acquired from Mahendra (Dinajpur, Bengal) and now in the collection of the V. R. S. Museum. It is similar in many respects to the usual two-armed Sūrya figures of this period, but its notable difference from them lies in the fact that the number of its arms is six. Its natural hands hold the usual full-blown lotus flowers, while the four additional hands show *varadamudrā* (with lotus mark on the palm), *akṣamālā*, *abhayamudrā* and *kamaṇḍalu*. The Dhātṛ aspect of the Sun god, the first in the list of the Dvādaśādityas, as described in the *Viśvakarmāvatāra śāstra*, holds lotuses in its two natural hands, a lotus garland (or a fillet of lotus seeds) in its (back) right hand, and a water-vessel in its (back) left (*Dakṣiṇe pauṣkarī mālā kare vāme kamaṇḍaluḥ |