Vaikuṇṭha-Viśvarūpa Vol. I

TEIL II.1

REGION 2

SONDERBERICHTE (EINZELBERICHTE)

D:Alphasitereports-2/Ma

TSM 1989/90

DFG-AZ.: Ma 1069/3-l

Kennwort: Vaikuṇṭha-Viśvarūpa

Sonderbericht 2.1(1)-Manwadi/Lkno

THE Viśvarūpa SCULPTURE FROM MANWADI AT LUCKNOW

T. S. Maxwell

 

1. General description

The sculpture (P1.l) is in the Lucknow Museum. It was discovered at Manwadi in Sitapur District, Uttar Pradesh, to the north of Lucknow. The top of the sculpture is broken off, and the upper portion of the remainder is damaged on the left; in its present condition, the piece is 38.78cm in height. In a different context, it has been published by Professor Parimoo1. The piece consists of a stele with a narrow base having three figures upon it, above which at the centre rises a standing figure of Viṣṇu with four avatārafaces; the margins of the stele, both on the base and above, are densely populated with minor figures.

2. The central figure

The main figure of Viṣṇu, slightly ābhaṅga with the weight on the right foot, was originally eight-armed. In the left hands are held the cakra (edge on), kheṭaka, dhanus(the top section broken off, the bowstring turned to the front, and personified by a figure holding a small flower in the raised right hand), and śaṅkha;on the right, one hand is missing, while the remaining three held gadā(its presence implied by the position of the raised left arm), bāṇa (personified, as pointed out by Parimoo, in the form of adiminutive figure holding a cone-shaped quiver containing three or four arrows), and khaḍga(the blade of which is broken).

The jewellery consists of ear ornaments (damaged), a double necklace of pearls with central jewel, a long double-beaded yajṅopavīta,triple-wound keyūras,and plain bracelets, a decorated girdle, and the vanamālā The clothing consists of an adhoṃśuka pleated on the left thigh.

The avatāra heads are those of the Matsya above Nṛsiṃha on the right, and of Kūrma above Varāha on the left (P1.2); the snout of the Varāha is concealed behind the cakra.The central face of Viṣṇu and the crown are entirely broken off.

3. The figures on the base

From the centre of the base arises Bhūdevī, the point of her emergence from the surface of the plinth being concealed by the looped serpent-body of a Nāga. The upper body of the Earth Goddess is naked but for a single-strand pearl necklace and bracelets; the top of a lower garment appears below the navel. Her head rises between the feet of Viṣṇu, which she supports on the palms of her out-turned hands.

Bhūdevī is flanked by two Nāgas, their human torsos larger than hers and their heads backed by five cobra hoods. The looped snake-body which conceals the lower body of Bhūdevī cannot logically belong to either of them, but is merely an artistic device. Their tails descend in undulating lines to the face of the plinth, where they are laterally intertwined and terminate in a curl. Their hands are extended and support the hands of Bhūdevī in holding up the figure of Viṣṇu.

A seated figure appears at each extremity of the plinth. That on the left represents a fat yakṣa-like figure holding a small shallow dish in the raised right hand. On the right kneels Arjuna wearing a high crown, necklace and bracelets, his hands joined in namaskāmudrā. In front of him, behind the body of the right-hand Nāga, stands his discarded bow.

4. The figures on the stele

Two figures stand on pedestals on either side of the Viṣṇu figure, and smaller figures appear above them on the margins of the stele. To the immediate left of Viṣṇu stands Lakṣmī, her body bent to the left and her right nand raised to her breast; she holds no attributes. In the corresponding position on the right stands Garuḍa in fully anthropomorphic shape, a snake held in his right hand and his left raised on top of his head in salute. Beside Lakṣmī, on the left margin of the stele, stands a male figure in atibhaṇga posture, with the left hand on his thigh and the right raised to shoulder level holding a flower; the lower part of the bow held in the front left hand of Viṣṇu stands behind him and he is to be seen as the personification of this weapon, Dhanuspuruṣa. In the same position on the right edge stands the male figure holding the conical quiver beneath Viṣṇu’s lowest right hand and representing Bāṇapuruṣa.

The remaining miniature figures on the higher margins of the stele are difficult to distinguish. Of those immediately above the bow and arrow hands of Viṣṇu, that on the left raises the right hand in abhyamudrā, while that on the right holds an indistinct object on the right shoulder. The two above these are mounted figures; that on the left sits on a horse and may represent one of the Aśvins, and the corresponding figure on the right, riding an elephant, would be Indra. A single crowned figure appearing above the rim of Viṣṇu’s shield and seeming to hold up a lotus in each hand is probably one of a group representing the twelve Ādityas. A damaged figure in the same position on the right, above the Matsya head of Viṣṇu, has the right hand raised in abhayamudrā; this may have been a small image of one of the avatāras,or one of the group of eleven Rudras.

5. Preliminary identification and chronology

Viṣṇu with-four avatāraheads and flanked by small figures of Vedic gods is supported by both the Earth Goddess and Nāgas, and, in a clear reference to Bhagavadgītā XI, is worshipped by Arjuna. The image clearly represents Viṣṇu as Viśvarūpa.

The sculpture belongs to the Viśvarūpa tradition which flourished north of the Ganges, chiefly represented by the Kannauj series, to which it is anterior. A date in the 7th century has been suggested, but in the evolution of Viśvarūpa iconography the image is pre-Kannauj, and it is more properly datable to the 8th century.

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D:Alphasitereports-2/Tu

Sounderbericht

TSM 1989/90

DFG-AZ.: Ma 1069/3-l

Kennwort: Vaikuṇṭha-Viśvarūpa

THE Viśvarūpa FRAGMENT PROM TUMAIN

 

1. General description

The sculpture, discovered at Tumain, Madhya Pradesh, and formerly in the University Museum, Sagar, is now in the National Museum, New Delhi (no.78.998). It consists of part of a sandstone stele, 56cm high by 60cm wide, with straight sides and a slightly curved top; it has been broken off and roughly squared at the base. The stele is completely covered in relief sculpture. In the lower portion, the sculpture consists of the outline of a figure of Viṣṇu (A) having a tall, tapering, crown and the profile heads of the avatārasVarāha above Kūrma on the proper left, and Nṛsiṃha above Matsya on the proper right. Below the heads are the remains of the shoulders of the god, encircled by the Vaijayantī garland, and of four arms holding the mace and what appears to have been a lotus on the right, and shield and disk on the left. Because of damage, this figure can be seen largely in outline only. The edges of the stele have four outward facing heads carved on each side, On the front surface of the stele numerous figures are sculpted in low relief which is in a fair state of preservation (Diagram 1).

 

1.1 Dimensions

Maximum height	56
Maximum width	60
Thickness of stele	06.5
Thickness of sculpture	10.5
Brahma	11.5 x 08
Typical figure, Group R	07 x 04
Typical figure, Group T	07 x 05
Height, edge face	07

2. Structure and content of the stele

The figures on the surface of the stele are organised into six identifiable groups. These are the following. Two figures (B, C) form a vertical axis above the crown of Viṣṇu. These are separated from each other by an uneven, horizontal plain ridge (Y – Z) which runs across the greater part of the upper section. Above the proper right-hand side of the ridge appear three cities (E, F, G), with a fourth member of this group (H) placed at the end of and partly below the ridge, On the proper left, the space above the ridge is occupied by three figures (D, I, J), after which the ridge, already shown as a declining line, disappears, but the series of figures in this group appears to continue down the left-hand margin of the front of the stele (K, placed as counterpart to H opposite, followed below by L, M, N). Below the ridge on the proper right are two groups of identical figures, the upper (R) consisting of eight figures, and the lower (S), which surrounds the Nṛsiṃha-profile and right-hand attributes of mace and lotus, of ten. A single group of twelve figures (T) is located on the left side of the stele, with a further cluster of figures (P) below it. It is apparent that more figures were originally represented on the stele further down.

3. Identification of the groups

3.1 The vertical series

The vertical series of figures consists of Viṣṇu himself (A), from whose crown rises, half revealed, the two-armed horse-headed figure of Hayagrīva (B). Above him, after the intervention of the ridge, rises the nimbate four-headed figure of Brahmā (C, 11.5 cm x 8 cm), who forms the central figure upon the ridge.

3.2 The horizontal series

The horizontal series placed upon the ridge are divided into two by the central figure of Brahmā. Those to the right of Brahmā consist of Paraśurāma (E), standing, holding the axe against his left shoulder and saluting, on his right, Śiva seated with Pārvatī on his left knee (F), beside whom sits Gaṇeśa (G); below him, riding on the peacock and with the spear resting on his right shoulder, appears Skanda (H).

Those to the left of Brahmā represent Rāma Dāśarathi (D) holding the bow in his left hand and facing Brahmā, followed by Indra (I) holding the vajra in his right hand and riding on the elephant Airāvata, Agni (J) holding a waterpot in his left hand and riding the goat, and Yama (K) holding the yamadaṇḍaand another object, riding the water buffalo; below Yama, the remaining three figures (L, M, N), also mounted, cannot be identified due to erosion, but can be presumed to be Vedic deities like those above them.

The members of the upper group on the right, below the ridge, starting from the figure of Skanda, have piled jaṭā hairstyles and hold a waterpot in the left hand while raising the right in the abhayamudrā;this group (R) appears to represent the Ṛṣis (7 cm x 4 cm). Below them, the second right-hand group consists of ten figures, also appearing to have jaṭāsto hold the right hand in abhayamudrā,and hold a trident against the left shoulder; these are ten of the eleven Rudras (S). On the left, the twelve figures of the third group of identical deities, crowned and holding a lotus in both hands (7 cm x 5 cm), represent the twelve Ādityas (T).

The figures around the cakra (P) cannot now be identified, but one of them could well be the Cakrapuruṣa represented as a flying figure.

3.3 The peripheral heads

Around the edges of the nimbus are ranged eight mask-like faces (7cm x 6.5 cm), four on each side, with jaṭās and ear-ornaments. These are placed around the upper portion of the nimbus, above the level of the ridge. They no doubt represent the Aṣṭa-Bhairavas. They are divided into two groups of four by marking the faces on the right with deeply carved lines, apparently intended to indicate extreme asceticism; the four on the left are not so marked.

4. Preliminary identification and chronology

This is an image representing Viṣṇu with an enlarged nimbus populated by at least 47 figures: the emanation Hayagrīva emerging vertically from the crown; above him Brahmā, who is flanked by the two Rāmas (Jamadagni and Dāśarathi), the family of 6iva, and a procession of mounted Vedic gods led by Indra; beneath the ridge on which these stand and clustered about the heads and weapons of Viṣṇu, appear the Ṛṣis, the Rudras, and the Ādityas. The present state of research allows only one identification of such a multiple deity, namely Viṣṇu as Viśvarūpa.

Iconographically the sculpture is post-Deogarh and pre-Eskenazi, placing it in the late 8th century, which is in accordance with the National Museum dating.

Tumain Madhya Pradesh

Region 2 : 8th cent. A.D.

 

Viśvarūpa FRAGMENT NM -78.998

Key Diagram

A	Viṣṇu				I	Indra
B	Hayagrīva				J	Agni
C	Brahmā				K	Yama
D	Rāma				L	Vedic god
E	Paraśurāma				M	Vedic god
F	Śiva + Pārvatī				N	Vedic god
G	Gaṇeśa				P	unidentified figures
H	Skanda
		Y – Z		dividing ridge
R	Ṛṣis		S	Rudras	T	Ādityas

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D:Alphasitereports-2/SuhanVR.Gwl

TSM 1989/90

DFG-AZ.: Ma 1069/3-l

Kennwort: Vaikuṇṭha-Viśvarūpa

Sonderbericht 2.1(2)-Gwalior/Suhania

 

THE Viśvarūpa SCULPTURE FROM SUHANJA AT GWALIOR

T. S. Maxwell

 

1. General Description

The sculpture (P1.1) is in the Madhya Pradesh State Museum, Gwalior (No. 26/12). It is sculpted from a single block of grey stone 87cm high, 57cm wide, and 16cm thick at the base. Four of the right arms of the main figure are broken off. Damage is widespread, notably to the face, two of the objects held in the left hands and parts of the minor figures on the base. Erosion has affected particularly the miniature figures in the three friezes at the top. According to the notes, still preserved in the Museum archives, made by M. B. Garde, the first curator of the permanent museum in the Gujari Mahal, the sculpture was brought to Gwalior from Suhania, Madhya Pradesh. On this subject more will be said below (pp.lSff., #7).

Although the iconography of the composition is formally set out, it is of some complexity in content, consisting of 49 separate figures of which 37 are group gods. Several of its features are unique among complex Vaiṣṇava icons. It is not inscribed.

2. The central figure

The main figure (A), carved in high relief1 against a backslab (P1.2), is well proportioned (almost exactly a nine-tāla image2) and has considerable aesthetic impact. It represents Viṣṇu3 standing in a fluently executed ābhaṅga posture4, the right hip and left knee flexed, and the face being turned well to the right. The throat Is conventionally marked with the trirekha.A long vanamālā appears in a bold sweep around the shoulders and upper arms and hangs through the crook of the elbows, the loop below the knees, framing most of the body in graceful curves which emphasise the god’s movement. The centre of this figure is the navel, which is represented at the intentional centrepoint of the stele, determined by the intersection of diagonals from the square ‘shoulders’ of the slab near the top to the opposite corners on the surface of the plinth5.

The yajṅopavīta is clearly represented as a triple-stand beaded cord, passing over the left shoulder, down the torso and across the abdomen. The deity wears two short necklaces, keyūras with triangular foliate motifs and studded bracelets and anklets. The ear-ornaments differ: that on the left is a large circular (vṛtta-) kuṇḍala in the form of a spiral, not concentric rings, while that on the right is an elongated (makara-) kuṇḍala.

The lower hem of the adoṃśuka is marked by two parallel lines incised around the legs above the knees; the top of the garment is indicated by a double line carved around the hips, a small drape on the upper right thigh and a fold of cloth between the legs. A girdle below the cloth waistband and a thickly rolled piece of material across the upper thighs are both entwined by ornate cords ending in tassle-like ornaments which hang down to the top of the knees.

The crown6 is a tall, tapering kirīṭa, fitting tighly down over the head as far as the ears with the hairline of the head incised just below the rim (see P1.3). The base of the crown has three peaks, on the front and on the both sides, with small tabs projecting from behind it above the ears. The upper part of the crown is hund with pendants, which issue from the mouths of lion-masks, two of which encircle a central rosette, and is backed by a small, circular nimbus-like ornament containing a flower pattern.

From behind the ears and the base of the crown, two avatāra-heads project on either side: on the right, those of the Kūrma (B) above the Narasiṃha (C); and on the left, that of the Matsya (D) above the Varāha (E). These four side-heads are small and unobtrusively incorporated with the main figure. As in all previous Vaiṣṇava depictions of a multiheaded deity, no attempt at a naturalistic anatomical connexion between these heads and the main figure has been attempted. The junctions between them and the neck of the god are concealed by the tabs of the crown, the ears and kuṇḍalas.

The god was originally ten-armed. On the left, the rearmost raised hand Hold the pole of a parasol (emblem of the dwarf avatāra Vāmana prefiguring his transformation, Trivikrama Virāṭarūpa), some parts of which remain at the top (see P1.5). The next hand from the back holds a small round shield (symbol of ignorance in the shadow of which the creation evolves), reversed, on a level with the heads, the palm of the hand facing outward under the cords of the grip over which the fingers curl, the inside of the shield being incised with cross-hatching. The next hand holds in a natural grip a beautifully rendered bow (representing Sāṅkhya, the basis of the arrow of Yoga, also the weapon of Pradyumna’s erotic aspect, and additionally of the avatāra Rāma). It is decorated on the front with cross-hatching and flowers, and along its edge with studs or gems. The bowstring is shown as a double line incised down the back of the bow, crossing to the front at the top; although one of the right hands draws an arrow from the quiver, the bow is not strung for action. The lower half of the bow is unfortunately lost, but one notices that the upper curve follows the rim of the shield behind it in a fluent continuity of line, while the main curve reflects that of the garland around the left shoulder. The fourth left hand from the rear rests casually on the densely spoked Vaiṣṇava cakra (the solar sign of Puruṣa associated with Vāsudeva), the thumb resting upon its broad cutting-rim, allowing it to lean forward at an angle, supported by the head of the Cakrapuruṣa (P1.7). The fifth and foremost hand on this side cradles, at hip level, the inverted conch (aperture upward, point downward).

The rearmost right arm is lost, but the head of the axe (weapon of Paraśurāma, also the sign of detachment from the world, the axe to fell the tree of saṃsāra) which it wielded remains, poised to strike with blade turned away from the god (P1.4). The next hand is bent back, palm upward, two fingers extended and originally (these fingers are broken at the joints) crooked to draw the Yoga-arrow from the quiver carved behind the god’s right shoulder, The remaining three arms on this side are broken off, but to judge from the corresponding objects on the left, the three missing hands most probably held the sword of Viṣṇu (Nandaka, representing asceticism, the joy of yogins, and also called Asi, Sword of Dharma), balancing the shield on the left, and two other standard Vaiṣṇava emblems, the lotus and mace (complementing the conch and disk on the other side).

The naturalism of the hands, the careful organisation of the five arms and attributes on the left side, and touches of inventiveness — the ābhaṅga posture with the marked turn of the head, the contrasting ear-ornaments, the partly drawn arrow, the tilted disk — make of this sculpture an intelligently and sensitively designed image. In the organisation of sculptural space it contrasts strongly with the awkwardness of the eight-and ten-armed central figure in the Viśvarūpa sculptures designed at Kannauj two centuries earlier, though these have received high praise.

3.The design of the frame

In certain features, the frame which surrounds the central deity here appears to be prototypical of later developments occurring up to the thirteenth century and indicated by the “Vaikuṇṭha-Viśvarūpa” in the Trilokanātha temple at Mandi7. There are four points of similarity: (1) one or more miminutive figures in low relief on the face of the plinth beneath the god’s feet; (2) the piercing of the stone around the body of the god; (3) the resulting illusion of pillars based upon the plinth on either side of the deity and the joining of this architectural construct to the modified concept of a populated prabhāmaṇḍala in the upper part of the composition; (4) the hipped outline of the stele at the junction of the vertical sides and the curving top of the backslab. There are, on the other hand, no heads around the periphery of the top section of the stele in the Gwalior Suhania icon.

The top of the composition is flat: only the corners are rounded, and special adjustments to the positioning of the minor figures in two of the three horizontal registers near the top have been made to allow for this loss of corner-space (Pl. 3), suggesting that the compositional plan involved the modification of a square-topped stele, such as that which backs the Bhuswar Viśvarūpa at Bharatpur. The otherwise strictly linear arrangement of the figures on the backslab suggests, moreover, a connection with the formal design of the Viśvarūpa sculpture at Bajaura in Himachal8.

4. The figure on the plinth

On the face of the plinth, beneath the feet of the main central figure, are carved two Nāgas (F, G) with human torsos and heads, their hands joined in the namaskāra-mudrā (P1.8). Both figures have serpentine bodies incised with rings, and the multiple cobra-hoods behind their heads, though partly broken, are clearly identifiable as such.

The Nāgas rise obliquely from beneath a seated female figure (H), representing the Earth Goddess, with her hands joined in the same mudrā. The Nāgas direct their homage to the Earth Goddess between them. She herself appears to be meditating in a reverential attitude. From behind the shoulders of the goddess, at first sight resembling wings, grow four stalks, two on each side, which support the large lotus with drooping petals upon which the main figure stands.

On the plinth to the immediate left of Viṣṇu stands the Cakrapuruṣa9 (I) with the tilted disk resting on his head (Pl.7). He stands in a relaxed, ābhaṅga attitude flexed to the right like the main figure. His right hand holds a lotus at shoulder level, while his left forearm rests casually upon a kneeling figure (J), now destroyed from head to waist. Gadādevī (K), in the corresponding position to the right of the god, is in a similar, if somewhat stiffer posture (Pl. 6). She holds a lotus in her left hand, her right arm being extended downward with the hand resting casually upon her thigh. A kneeling figure (L) beside her, like that upon which Cakrapuruṣa rests, is now mostly destroyed.

The identity of these two kneeling figures, and of the two in the Bhusawar Viśvarūpa at Bharatpur which are in the same locations in the composition, is as yet unknown to me. Simply to call them musicians (one holds a vīnā in the Bharatpur image) is unsatisfactory. Gadādevī is identified both by the ornate, broken projection above her head which is a supporting bracket carved with foliage typically used to strengthen the mace originally held in one of the main figure’s now missing right hands, and by her positioning relative to Cakrapuruṣa, it being conventional to represent the āyudha-puruṣas,when they appear, opposite each other on either side of the god10.

Standing in ābhaṅga on the outer left extremity of the plinth is a male figure (M) facing forward, with a lotus held in his left hand and the right resting upon his thigh (Pl.7). This is one of the conventional dvārapālas of Viṣṇu, either Jaya or Vijaya.

In the corresponding position on the right stands a male figure (N), also facing forward and in a relaxed posture (ābhaṅgato the right): he is crowned, has a vṛtta-kuṇḍalain his left ear, and holds a pointed stick transversely across his bod (Pl. 6). This can only represent the avatāra Dāśarathi Rāma holding the krīḍā-yaṣṭi or arrow.

On the face of the pilaster above and behind M (the dvārapāla) on a small pedestal, is a crouching figure11 (0) facing to the right with its hands joined in the namaskāra-mudrā;the outline of a tail around the lower curvature of the back, and a hirsute appearance to the body, indicate that this squat devotee is Hanumān (Pl. 9).

There is no image in the corresponding position on the right-hand pilaster, but the end of some now broken object, apparently the end of a staff (PI. 6, left), appears on this pilaster behind the right shoulder of the small Rāma figure (N). It is angled toward the centre in such a way as to suggest that it was the object held in the second or third right hand of the main figure, whose right shoulder bears a broken figment of the top of this long implement. It would seem to have been the plough of Saṅkarṣaṇa Halāyudha.

At the top of this same right-hand pilaster, beneath the head of the axe, is a small image of seated Gaṇeśda12 (P), the left-hand side of his body behind the shaft (Pl. 10). This juxtaposition would allude to the mythological episode in which the elephant-headed son of Śiva lost his tusk when protecting his father from the axe hurled by Paraśurāma, with whom the axe in part thus identifies the main figure. Gaṇeśa may also be present to accompany figures in the middle top register (Section 5). Four-armed, Gaṇeśa holds his broken tusk in his upper left hand and some indistinct, bulky object in his upper right, while the two lower hands seem to rest upon upon his thighs. This figure from the Śaiva pantheon appears to be more fully integrated with the Vaiṣṇava iconography of this stele (diagonal counterpart of the monkey ally (0) of Rāma in the lower left corner of the backslab) than in the case of the Kannauj Viśvarūpas, where his figure is clearly, though less boldly, represented13. The continuation of Gaṇeśa’s presence beside Viṣṇu Viśvarūpa at Kannauj, here in the image from Suhania and further west at Bhusawar in the Bharatpur Viśvarūpa, indicates a strong minor tradition which persisted for at least two hundred years in a large area of western North India, and which deserves detailed investigation. Elsewhere and at other periods up to the thirteenth century, there is no such clear association between Viśvarūpa and Gaṇeśa in Vaiṣṇava iconography.

There is no corresponding figure on the upper portion of the left-hand pilaster, behind the parasol.