Elements of Hindu Iconography v1.c11.30

v1.c11.30

The large figure to the right of the central Varāha in Pl. XXXVI wears the *jaṭā-makuṭa* and is standing with his hands which are apparently in the *añjali* pose. The statement that this image may be that of Śiva is based only on the relative size of the figure and its *jaṭā-makuṭa*. The height of this figure is exactly equal to that of Brahmā; both these figures of Brahmā and Śiva come up to the shoulders of Varāha; and this is the height which is generally prescribed in Sanskrit works on iconography for the principal ones among the attendant deities. There are however some difficulties in the matter of this identification; this figure has only two arms, which is uncommon for Śiva in the sculptures of the period; secondly, Śiva and Brahmā are rarely, if at all, shown as adopting the *añjali* pose of the hands and with bowed head; even when they are sculptured as attendant deities, their hands are usually shown in the pose of praise; thirdly, there is in front of this figure a *vīṇā*, with a crooked handle and the gourd resonator, evidently belonging to the being whom the figure represents, and indicating that it may well be a *rishi*. Up above this figure, which may be of Śiva, there is the figure of Sūrya in the *prabhāmaṇḍala* worshipping Varāha with folded hands. The form of Sūrya, like that of Chandra, is here represented only up to the middle of the body, the lower portion being left unsculptured; this is meant evidently to suggest that they are up and unsupported in the sky.