The Development of Hindu Iconography c8.58

c8.58

A free translation of the text is as follows:—' The auspicious multi-armed goddess Śivadūtī has the face of a jackal; surrounded by snakes, her body is emaciated and face sorrowful; she is fierce-looking, wears a garland of skulls, and holds a khaṭvāṅga (for its meaning, see glossary); when she is four-armed, she should be shown in the ālīḍha pose and her hands should hold a cup full of blood, a sword, a trident and a fish.' But Rao could not illustrate this description of the goddess with the aid of any extant relief. Now, it was Natesa Aiyar who first drew the attention of scholars to a sculpture in the collection of the Nagpur Museum, which in a remarkable manner coincides with this Purāṇic description. It may be noted here that this sculpture does not conform to the other mode of representing the goddess given in the Śritattvanidhi, where her name is shortened into Dūtī.² Among the numerous Devī icons in the Chaunṣaṭ Yoginī temple at Bheraghat, many of which are in an extremely mutilated condition, this particular aspect of the Devī has not yet been recognised. But one interesting fact concerning these, which has special bearing on the topic under discussion, ought to be noted here. Most of these images bear identificatory inscriptions on their pedestals; in a few cases, it is possible to show that the latter (the pīṭhikā) did not originally belong to the figure which is placed upon it at present. But in the majority of instances they form an organic whole; and many are the names in the pedestal inscriptions, which cannot be found among the authorised lists of such goddesses in the available texts. No doubt the names of such well-known aspects of the goddess, as Brahmāṇī, Māheśvarī, Vārāhī, Vaiṣṇavī, Caṇḍikā, Ḍākinī Jāhnavī, Yamunā and others are found among them. But we are yet to get hold of iconographic texts which will give us the descriptions of such figures as Deḍḍarī, Lampaṭā, Thānī, Ṭakārī, Riḍhālī, Saṇḍinī, Auḍārā, Khemakhī, and a host of others. Again, it is interesting to note that some figures among them, easily recognisable from their iconography, such as Mahiṣāsuramarddinī and Gaṇeśānī (Śakti of Gaṇeśa), are respectively labelled as Terambā and Aiṅginī.¹ Evidently, the sculptors of these images were following the texts current in this region (which are not now available) to meet the requirements of the Śākta devotee who was the original builder of this temple rebuilt by Queen Alhaṇadevī during the reign of her son Narasiṃhadeva in the Kalachuri-Chedi year 907 (1155 A.D.).