Vastu-shastra (Vol. I: Hindu Science of Architecture; Vol. II: Hindu Canons of Iconography and Painting) v2.c75.s1.17

v2.c75.s1.17

It may be remarked that sculptures found representing the image show Hari always on the left and Hara in the right, as we shall presently see. A word, therefore, on history and culture of this composite image may be first said here. The historical, or more correctly the Paurāṇic, account of the origin of this composition is very popular. Viṣṇu was Mohinī, the beautiful female form assumed by him while distributing nectar churned out of the ocean by the Devas and Asuras to deprive the latter of their share of it, by bewitching them with her beauty; Śiva fell in love with this aspect of Viṣṇu. Now as regards the broader culture which this composite icon represents is the emphasis on the reconciliation between the two major cults of Vaiṣṇavism and Śaivism.