Indian Sculpture c8.223

c8.223

A morbid elegance is combined with a pose of power in the linear composition; the concave curve predominates vertically in the two Asuras one above the other, on either side, and horizontally in the figure of Hiraṇyakaśipu in the centre—whom Viṣṇu disembowels at the time of lingering twilight—and again vertically in the left leg of the main figure. The plastic context makes use of glidingly interlaced and tube-like units. They are undercut and carved in the round, to the largest extent.