Eastern Indian School of Mediaeval Sculpture c8.s2.27

c8.s2.27

The *Sādhanas* contain the descriptions of a number of Lokeśvaras, bearing different names, *e.g.*, *Khasarpaṇa Lokeśvara*, *Hālāhala Lokeśvara*, *Hari-hari-hari-vāhan-odbhava Lokeśvara* and *Siṃhanāda Lokeśvara*. M. Foucher has published a photograph of an image of Siṃhanāda Lokeśvara,³ but in the first part of his work he has published another, which he has identified as Mañjuśrī.⁴ Closer examination proves that this is also an image of Siṃhanāda Lokeśvara. The presence of a sword on the lotus on the left side and a trident surrounded by snakes on the right in another image definitely proves that it is a representation of Siṃhanāda, though the five Tathāgatas are absent from the back slab. This image is *in situ* at Bodh Gaya inside the Brahmanical monastery.⁵ There is an inscription on its pedestal in characters of the eleventh century A.D. A similar image is included in the Indian Museum collection (B. G. 6) and another in the Patna Museum.⁶ A third specimen was recently discovered at Bazarpara in the Birbhum District.⁷