South-Indian Images of Gods and Goddesses c12.s2.75

c12.s2.75

The symbols of the gods and goddesses apart from the weapons which they wield, such as the goad (Plate IV, No. 8), noose (No. 9), disc (Nos. 10 and 10a), shield (No. 12), sword (No. 13), pestle (No. 14), axe (No. 15), trident (Nos. 16 and 16a), thunderbolt (Nos. 20 and 20a), club (Plate III, No. 1), sakti or vēl (No. 2), tanka (No. 3), arrow (No. 4), bow (No. 5), fire (No. 6) and khatvānga (No. 11), are very few. Goddesses, perhaps as a sign of beauty, hold in their hands a lotus-bud (Plate IV, No. 18 and Plate I, No. 3), a mirror (Plate III, No. 8) or a parrot perching on the back of the palm (Plate IV, No. 19). The rosary (Plate IV, Nos. 1 and 2), the water-pot (Nos. 3 and 4), the book (No. 5), the position of the fingers known as chinmudrā (Plate III, No. 16) and jñānamudrā (No. 14) denote meditation, purity and knowledge. The conch of Vishnu (Plate IV, No. 11 and Plate I, No. 4a), the kettle-drum dhakkā of Siva (Plate III, No. 12 and Plate IV, No. 24) and the bell in the hands of some gods and goddesses (Plate III, No. 7) may be taken as equipments for fight, though not as actual weapons, offensive or defensive. The deer held by Siva as a trophy on the occasion when he destroyed the sacrifice of his father-in-law Daksha (Plate IV, No. 17), the serpent (Plate I, No. 46) and the kapāla (Plate III, No. 21 and Plate IV, No. 23a) may be considered only as symbols specially distinguishing him from the other gods. The same has to be said of the kukkuta “cock” (Plate III, No. 3a) of Skanda, of the broken tusk¹ (Plate IV, No. 21) of Vināyaka and of the flag (No. 22) of Vāyu, “the god of winds.”