Image title: Hanuman and Bhairava

Hanuman and Bhairava (Two Gods in One)—Three of the nearby sculptures represent a rare and little known image type in which Hanuman, the monkey lieutenant of Rama, a Vishnu avatar, and Bhairava, a Tantric aspect of Shiva, are combined in a single image known as “Hanu-Bhairava.” This identification is certified by an inscription accompanying an 18th century Hanu-Bhairava Nepalese painting.

The Hanuman aspect predominates and the pair of gods is given the body and principal face of a monkey. They are provided with four additional heads: a boar, Garuda, tiger or jackal, and always the topmost, a horse. In keeping with the number of heads the images all have ten arms which display an array of symbols usually associated with wrathful gods. One attribute, held in the upper left hand of the larger bronze image, represents the medicinal mountain Gandhamadana, one of Hanuman’s distinctive emblems. The heroic Hanuman brought it to restore life to the defeated army of Lakshmana, hero of the epic Ramayana.

Although there are a few late paintings of the Pahari school in India which depict a similar image, it seems quite possible given the Nepali penchant for innovation that this syncretic image type, combining the Shiva-Rama Concepts, is a Nepalese invention dating from about the 17th or 18th century.

Gallery information:

The Patan Museum is located on the Durbar square of Patan (Lalitpur/Lalitapura, Kathmandu, Nepal) which is associated Keshav Narayan Chowk (Keshavnarayan)—a form of Lord Vishnu. Being listed as a World Heritage Site, the whole of Durbar square is filled with exquisite temples, sculptures and other ancient structures, of which the ancient history history can be traced to the Malla Kings of Lalitpur. It is an important site for both Buddhism and Hinduism.