Probably Uttar Pradesh, south of Kanpur1
Mid-tenth century CE2
Sandstone; 81.3 x 50.5 x 17.1 cm
(32 x 19-7/8 x 6-3/4 in.)
Ackland Fund, 69.11.1
Provenance: Acquired 20 August 1969 from Harry Lenart.
Vishnu, the Preserver of the Cosmos, is accompanied by his ten incarnations (dasavataras).3 Originally four-armed, the god would probably have held four of his main attributes: the disc (chakra), conch shell (shankha), mace (gada), and lotus (padma). Vishnu wears an elaborate conical crown, large earrings, and a floral garland that extends down to his knees. Emanating from his head is a double-ellipse halo of lotus petals.
Like an aureole, paired incarnations emanate from the central deity. On the far right of the relief, on a shallow ledge, is the second incarnation, the tortoise Kurma, who helped churn the Primordial Ocean. He would have been paired in the upper left corner with the first incarnation, the fish Matsya, who protected the first human during the great deluge. Below the tortoise stands the Man Lion, Narasimha, the fourth form that Vishnu assumed in order to kill the demon Hiranyakashipu. Vishnu’s third incarnation, the boar Varaha, who used his tusks to rescue the earth, would have complemented Narasimha on the left (see also Plate 12). Below Narasimha stands the sixth incarnation, Parashurama, holding the battle-axe with which he killed the demon Arjuna. Vamana, the dwarf form in which Vishnu saved the world from the demon Bali, would probably have appeared in complementary opposition to Parashurama but is now missing. Beside Vishnu’s right arm stands Rama, the righteous ruler, who is paired with Balarama, Krishna’s older brother, distinguished by his serpent headdress. The Buddha, wearing a long, smooth, monastic robe, occupies the far lower left corner next to a male guardian, below the elephant bracket. Opposite him, in the far right corner, is the final incarnation that Vishnu will take in the future. Kalki rides his horse and raises a sword above his head to rid the world of evil and restore order.
A pair of serpents (nagas), with human heads and upper bodies, gently support the lotus pedestal on which the deity stands in all his glory. Their raised tails elevate two more lotus pedestals upon which the donor couple kneels in obeisance to the deity. Above them, a male and a female attendant raise flywhisks in the form of lotus buds, celebrating Vishnu’s status as divine ruler. Slightly recessed behind these attendants are two smaller figures, either representing personifications of Vishnu’s special weapons, or guardians, or both.4 As is still visible on the proper right of the relief, the composition was originally framed by crocodile–elephant composite beasts (makaras) placed above mythical leonine beasts (vyalas) rearing over elephants. The image most likely resided as the primary object of worship in a temple sanctum (see Figs. 51, 52, 53). Typically sanctum images present the main deity formally and frontally. As objects of worship, these images have more elaborate compositions and are treated more carefully than other sculpture on the body of the temple.5 AMB
1 Email communication from Darielle Mason, 2/28/2006.
2 Email communication from Darielle Mason, 2/28/2006.
3 This sculpture has been previously published by Leroy Davidson with some differences in identification of the figures surrounding Vishnu; The Art of the Indian Subcontinent from Los Angeles Collections (Los Angeles: UCLA Art Galleries and UCLA Art Council; W. Ritchie Press, 1968), 50–51.
4 The male figure on Vishnu’s left appears to bear an arrow, while the other on the right a mace. More typical are pairings of the personifications of Vishnu’s disc and mace. Alternately, it is possible that these are guardian figures. See, for example, Devangana Desai, The Religious Imagery of Khajuraho (Mumbai: Franco–Indian Research, 1996), 110, where the figures Dhata and Vidhata, bearing an arrow and a bow respectively, are paired on either side of the temple doorway. For a variant reading of these secondary figures, see Davidson, 50–51.
5 On the original context for this piece and the organization of sculpture on the body of the temple, see the essay by Darielle Mason in this catalogue. See also her essay, “A Sense of Time and Place: Style and Architectural Disposition of Images on the North Indian Temple,” in Gods, Guardians and Lovers: Sculptures from North India, AD 700–1200, ed. Vishakha N. Desai and Darielle Mason (New York and Ahmedabad: Asia Society Galleries and Mapin Publishing, 1993), 128-29.