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The Development of Hindu Iconography c21: Appendix C

The Development of Hindu Iconography c21

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Appendix C

c21.1

When I edited the text, *Samyaksambuddhabhāṣita Buddhapratimālakṣaṇam*, I thought it would be interesting to compare the measurements of a few well-preserved Buddha figures of different periods in the collections of Museums in Northern India, with those laid down in the text. I wanted to find out how far the actual practice tallied with the textual data. While engaged in the present work, I measured several representative specimens of Brahmanical images in the galleries of the Indian Museum, Calcutta, and the Asutosh Museum, Calcutta University, with the same object in view. The measurements which I could take with the help of anthropometric instruments were mainly of height or length and rarely of the width of the various sections of the images. Ancient and mediaeval icons are usually relievo-figures; so the periphery of their respective parts cannot be measured. Interspaces can also seldom be measured in most cases, owing to the difficulty in locating the extreme points. Again, as these images, unlike those of Buddha, very often bear on their different limbs a variety of ornaments, it is extremely difficult to be sure about the iconometric data collected from them. So, I took only those measurements about which I could be reasonably sure, and I record them in order that they may be compared with the corresponding ones laid down in the texts. I have initiated this comparison myself, and have shown that there seems to be a fair agreement between the respective data in the case of those images which are comparatively well-executed ones. Most of the images partially measured by me belong to the mediaeval period.¹ 1. Viṣṇu (from Bihar), formerly in the Indian Museum (No. 3864), now in the collection of the Asutosh Museum; date—C. 9th century A.D.

c21.2

¹ I offer my thanks here to Messrs. S. K. Saraswati, M.A., and T. C. Raychowdhuri, M.A., P.R.S., of the Calcutta University, for helping me in collecting these iconometric data. My sixth-year students of A.I.H.C. (Gr. IB) and Pali (Gr. E) departments (session 1939-40), also helped me in this work.

c21.3

| Height (with kiriṭa) | ... | ... | 67.7 | c.m. |
| ,, (without ,, ) | ... | ... | 59.0 | ,, |
| Length of the crown | ... | ... | 1.3 | ,, |
| ,, ,, face | ... | ... | 7.0 | ,, |
| ,, ,, neck | ... | ... | 2.6 | ,, |
| Neck to navel | ... | ... | 12.4 | ,, |
| Navel to knee | ... | ... | 21.3 | ,, |
| Knee to instep | ... | ... | 12.4 | ,, |
| Instep | ... | ... | 2.0 | ,, |
| | | | --- | |
| Full height without kiriṭa | ... | 59.0 | ,, |
| Length of the kiriṭa | ... | ... | 8.7 | ,, |
| Width of the face | ... | ... | 7 | ,, |

c21.4

According to the dictum of the Bṛhatsaṃhitā, the aṅgula unit of this image would be 59/108, i.e., .54 c.m. approximately (decimal places more than two being left out). Now .54 × 12 is 6.48 which is .52 less than the actual face-length. But the length and width of the face of the image are the same, and there is a close conformity with the text, as regards the measurements of the neck, neck to navel, the shanks and instep sections of the figure. The crown of the head (i.e., from the hair-line to the top of the head), is included here in the whole height. The length of the kiriṭa or mauli according to the Matsyapurāṇa is 14 aṅgulas, which on the basis of the above unit will be 7.56 c.m.; but its actual length is 8.7, or 1.14 aṅgulas in excess.

c21.5

2. Viṣṇu (No. 10 P. C. N.) in the Asutosh Museum, from Eastern India; date—C. 10th century A.D.

c21.6

| Height (with kiriṭa) | ... | ... | 43.8 | c.m. |
| ,, (without ,, ) | ... | ... | 38.5 | ,, |
| Length of the crown | ... | ... | .7 | ,, |
| ,, ,, face | ... | ... | 5.2 | ,, |
| ,, ,, neck | ... | ... | 1.8 | ,, |
| Neck to navel | ... | ... | 8.6 | ,, |
| Navel to feet | ... | ... | 22.2 | ,, |
| | | | --- | |
| | | | 38.5 | ,, |
| Length of the forehead | ... | ... | 1.6 | ,, |
| ,, ,, nose | ... | ... | 1.6 | ,, |
| ,, ,, chin | ... | ... | 2.0 | ,, |
| | | | --- | |
| Total face length | ... | ... | 5.2 | ,, |

c21.7

Width along the shoulders ... 13.8 ,, ,, from arm-pit to arm-pit ... 8.8 ,, ,, of the waist-line ... 5.9 ,,

c21.8

The *aṅgula* unit of this image would be (83·5)/108 i.e., ·35 c.m. Now, 4·2 (·35 × 12) ought to be its face-length; but actually it is 5·2 c.m., i.e., just about one *aṅgula* in excess. This would be so according to the *Drāviḍa-māna*, but the width in that case should have been 4·2 (which is not so here). It ought to be noted here that the respective lengths of the forehead and the nose of this image approximate to 4 *aṅgulas*, while the same from below the end of the nose to the extremity of the chin is somewhat in excess. A reference to Appendix B will show that according to some texts, the last is a little longer than the first two.

c21.9

3. Viṣṇu Trivikrama (from Eastern India), now in the Indian Museum (Ms. 13); date—C. 11th century A.D.

c21.10

Height (with *kirīṭa*) ... ... 77.9 c.m. ,, (without ,, ) ... ... 66.2 ,, Face-length ... ... ... 7.1 ,, Chin to navel ... ... ... 17.9 ,, Navel to knee-top ... ... 21.7 ,, Patella . . . . . 2.5 ,, Shanks . . . . . 14.45 ,, Pārṣṇi . . . . . 2.55 ,, __________ 66.2 ,,

c21.11

Width of the face ... ... ... 7.1 ,, Length of the forehead ... ... 2 ,, ,, ,, nose ... ... ... 2.4 ,, Nose to chin ... ... ... 2.7 ,, Width of the waist ... ... ... 8.7 ,, From shoulder to shoulder ... ... 21.4 ,, ,, arm-pit to arm-pit ... ... 14.6 ,, Width of the middle digit of the medius .9 ,,

c21.12

The *dehalabdha-aṅgula* unit of this figure is ·61 c.m. The length of the face according to the textual basis would be 7·32 (·61 × 12), which is very close to the actual face length. The sameness of the length and the width of the face fully endorses the textual data. It should be noted that the three sections of the face are not equal in our sculpture; but the length of the nose very closely corresponds to what has been enjoined in many of the *Śilpaśāstras*; the actual measurement is 2·4 c.m., while the academic one is 2·44 (·61 × 4). Here, the *kirīṭa* exceeds the academic length by as much as 3·16 c.m.

c21.13

4. Vāsudeva-Viṣṇu (from Jessore district, Bengal), now in the Asutosh Museum; date—C. 11th century A.D.

c21.14

| Height (with *kirīṭa*) | ... | ... | 134.6 | c.m. |
| ,, (without ,, ) | ... | ... | 115.8 | ,, |
| Crown | ... | ... | 1 | ,, |
| Face-length | ... | ... | 13.2 | ,, |
| Neck | ... | ... | 5.2 | ,, |
| Neck to navel | ... | ... | 25.7 | ,, |
| Navel to knee | ... | ... | 36.5 | ,, |
| Shanks | ... | ... | 29.8 | ,, |
| Feet | ... | ... | 4.4 | ,, |
| | | Total | 115.8 | ,, |
| The width of the face | ... | ... | 13.6 | ,, |
| From shoulder to shoulder | ... | ... | 38.5 | ,, |
| ,, arm-pit to arm-pit | ... | ... | 26 | ,, |
| Length of the forehead | ... | ... | 4.5 | ,, |

c21.15

The *dehāngula* of this image according to previous calculation will be 1·07 and on this basis its face-length ought to be 12·84 which is somewhat less than the actual face-length. If we derive its *aṅgula* on the *adhama daśatāla* basis, then the *dehāngula* becomes ·99. Then its academic face-length will be equal to 11·88 or 12; but still this does not conform to actual length. The actual measurements of the other sections also do not at all conform to the textual data, in whatever manner we may derive the *aṅgula*. The sculpture is not well-executed, and the artist, it seems, did not bother much about the details of measurements.

c21.16

5. Miniature Viṣṇu (from Sunderbuns, Bengal), originally in the collection of Kalidas Dutt, and now in the Asutosh Museum; date—C. 10th-11th century A.D.

c21.17

| Height (without *kirīṭa*) | ... | ... | 7.5 | c.m. |
| Crown | ... | ... | 1.4 | ,, |
| Face-length | ... | ... | .9 | ,, |
| Neck | ... | ... | .2 | ,, |
| Neck to navel | ... | ... | 1.3 | ,, |
| Navel to ankles | ... | ... | 3.4 | ,, |
| *Pārṣṇi* | ... | ... | .3 | ,, |
| | | Total | 7.5 | ,, |

c21.18

| Width of the face | ... | ... | .9 c.m. |
| Length of the forehead | ... | ... | .3 " |
| " " nose | ... | ... | .3 " |
| " " chin | ... | ... | .3 " |

c21.19

This is a very well-carved miniature figure of Viṣṇu and the artist seems to have closely followed the details of the *navatāla* mode. One thing to be noted here is this : in each of the image measured up till now, the top of the crown of the head is included in the academic measurement of the whole height of the figure. In the *Bṛhatsaṃhitā*, the portion above the *keśarekhā* seems to be left out of it. But in later texts on iconometry, this is not the case.

c21.20

6. Śiva (from Bihar), now in the Indian Museum (No. 3851); date—C. 10th century A.D.

c21.21

| Height (with *jaṭāmukuṭa*) | ... | ... | 77.7 c.m. |
| " (without *jaṭāmukuṭa* up to the hair line) | ... | ... | 68.1 " |
| Length of the face | ... | ... | 7.7 " |
| Neck | ... | ... | 5.8 " |
| Neck to navel | ... | ... | 14.4 " |
| Navel to knee | ... | ... | 23.9 " |
| Knee to foot ... | ... | ... | 16.3 " |
| **Total** | ... | ... | **68.1** " |

c21.22

| Width of the middle digit of the medius | ... | ... | .5 " |
| The Height of the *prabhāvali* with *pīṭhikā* | ... | ... | 98.4 " |
| The Height of the *pīṭhikā* | ... | ... | 11.6 " |
| The Width of the waist ... | ... | ... | 8.6 " |
| From arm-pit to arm-pit ... | ... | ... | 12.3 " |
| The Height of the *jaṭāmukuṭa* | ... | ... | 9.6 " |

c21.23

The *navatāla* measure of this sculpture does not seem to include the length of the top of the crown and this is thus laid down in the *Bṛhatsaṃhitā*. Its *dehāṅgula* is .63 and its face-length fairly corresponds to the academic one of 7.56. The correspondence is not so approximate in the other sections of the body measured by me.

c21.24

7. Sūrya (from Bihar), now in the Indian Museum (No. 3934); date—C. 10th century A.D.

c21.25

| Height (with *kirīṭa*) | ... | ... | 72.1 c.m. |
| " (without ,, ) | ... | ... | 62.0 " |
| Face-length | ... | ... | 7.2 " |
| Neck | ... | ... | 2.8 " |
| Neck to navel | ... | ... | 13.7 " |
| Navel to feet | ... | ... | 38.3 " |
| **Total** | ... | ... | **62.0** " |

c21.26

| Width of the face | ... | ... | 6.9 | c.m. |
| ,, ,, waist | ... | ... | 9.5 | ,, |
| From arm-pit to arm-pit | ... | ... | 11.8 | ,, |
| Middle digit of the medius | ... | .75 | ,, | |
| Height of the *prabhāvali* with *pīthikā* | ... | 91.3 | ,, | |
| Height of the *pīthikā* | ... | ... | 11.2 | ,, |

c21.27

The *dehāngula* of the above sculpture will be .57 which is .18 less than the width of the middle digit of its medius. That the former was the measuring unit is proved by the fact that the actual length of the face approximates to its 12 times. The length of the face is, however, a little more (.3) than its width.

c21.28

8. Hari-Hara (from Bihar), in the Indian Museum (No. 3969); date—C. 10th century A.D.

c21.29

8. Hari-Hara (from Bihar), in the Indian Museum (No. 3969); date—C. 10th century A.D.

c21.30

| Height (without the head-dress) | ... | 113.6 | c.m. | |
| Face | ... | ... | 15 | ,, |
| Neck | ... | ... | 3.5 | ,, |
| Neck to navel | ... | ... | 25.2 | ,, |
| Navel to feet | ... | ... | 69.9 | ,, |
| | | Total | 113.6 | ,, |

c21.31

Its *dehāngula* is 1.05. Calculating on this basis, there is some discrepancy between the actuals and the textual data.

c21.32

9. Kārttikeya (from Eastern India), now in the Indian Museum (No. A.S.B.-MS. 2); date—C. 8th century A.D.

c21.33

| Height (including head-dress) | ... | 47.2 | c.m. | |
| ,, (without ,, ) | ... | 40.7 | ,, | |
| Face | ... | ... | 4.8 | ,, |
| Neck | ... | ... | 3.1 | ,, |
| Neck to navel | ... | ... | 8.3 | ,, |
| Navel to feet | ... | ... | 24.5 | ,, |
| | | Total | 40.7 | ,, |
| Width of the face | ... | ... | 4.8 | ,, |

c21.34

The *dehāngula* of the above sculpture is .37. The actual face-length of the image is .36 less than the academic one. But the former is equal to the measurement of the width of the face.

Cites (2)