Eastern Indian School of Mediaeval Sculpture c9.s2.166

c9.s2.166

Among these instances the figure of Śeṣaśāyin is an imitation of the Gupta forms but the special form of Vāsudeva from Sāgardighi is unique, the worship of which is long since obsolete. The complete unanimity amongst the sculptors of the different parts of the eastern provinces of Northern India in the delineation of images of the incarnations of Viṣṇu proves that there was a similarity of methods and rules in sculpture in different parts of the Pāla Empire. If we compare the Narasimha from Rampal,⁷ from Paikor⁸ and from Bihar⁹ then we are forced to admit the truth of this statement; but the image of the fish incarnation at Bajrajogini belongs to a class apart.¹⁰ Similarly, in the case of Śaiva images, we find there is a complete unity in the method in the specimens from Swamibagh,¹¹ Birbhum,¹² Dinajpur¹³ and Bihar¹⁴ all of which belong to the period of the first Renaissance. Special forms of Śaiva images are also to be found in large numbers in the eleventh and twelfth centuries A.D. The collections of Śaiva images in the Indian and Rajshahi Museums belong to this date. Among such images special mention ought to be made of the two peculiar specimens, representing the marriage of Śiva, in the collection at Rajshahi¹⁵ and that of the Baṅgiya Sāhitya Parishad¹⁶ at Calcutta. They are different from the older specimen in the possession of Dr. Suniti Kumar Chatterji.¹⁷ In the method of treatment there is a certain amount of similarity between the latter specimen from Gaya and the basreliefs and images representing the same subject discovered in other parts of India. But in the case of the two later specimens both the method and the technique are different, showing that there was no similarity or agreement in the methods and rules of the northern and the southern artists of India in the mediæval period.