Iconography of Gauri

3. B. (ii) c. IMAGES OF GAURI. The Brahmavaivartta-Purana, Prakrti-khandam, chapter 57, opens with an enumeration of the various names of Durga. They are:-1. Durga. 2. Narayani. 3 Isani. 4. Visnu- 7. Nitya. 8. Satya. maya. 5. Siva. 6. Sati. 12. Ambika. 16. Sanatani. 9. Bhagavati. 10. Sarvani. 11. Sarvamangala 13. Vaisnavi. 14. Gauri. 15. Parvati. The explanations of all these names are also given. It appears that most of these are placid forms of Durga. Among the images found in Bengal, some placid forms of Durga have long been recognised, but they have hitherto hardly been correctly identified. One of the commonest forms of the images of Durga that are found in the country, has four arms, holding in the hands clock-wise Boon (or a Linga), Pomegranate), Rosary (sometimes along with Trident (or Mirror), Protection (or Vase) and she has an alligator for her vehicle. Karttikeya and Ganesa, the two sons of Durga, are sometimes found accompanying her. The catalogue of the Rajsahi museum describes nine such images. Two images of this class are in the Dacca museum while some three or more, are known to exist in the villages of the Dacca district. The guide book issued by the Varendra Research Society of Rajsahi in 1912, classed these images as Bhavani-

Plate LXVI. To face page 198. ,」,,!°! Mahisamardini at Sakta. (In an artistic brass casing, about a century old.)

apparently from the find of an image of this class in a village called Chak-Bhavani. In the new catalogue of 1919, they have been designated with the general appellation of Chandi. The absence of a proper Dhyana of these images in the Tantras in common vogue in Bengal, is rather surprising and gives rise to the suspicion that the sculptors of Bengal used some particular Silpasastra, which we have not yet been able to recover. Certain passages of the "Rupamandanam" quoted by Mr. T. A. Gopinath Rao in his Elements of Hindu Iconography, vol. 1, part ii, appendix c, pages 113 and 120, help us in identifying these images. The passage on page 113 states that the image of Gauri is to be represented with an alligator as her vehicle and she may have a swan in its place at option. The passage on page 120 furnishes further details, and is translated below. in extenso. "Now I shall speak on the points of identification of the images of Gauri, which have four arms, three eyes and are bedecked with all ornaments. "The image which holds (in her four hands) Rosary, Lotus, Mirror and Water-pot, is called Uma and is worshipped even by the gods. "The goddess that has Rosary, Siva-Linga, Image of Ganesa, and Waterpot in her hands and is placed between two pyres of fire, is called Parvati. "The image that has Rosary, Lotus, Boon and Protection in her four hands, and whose vehicle is the alligator should be worshipped in homes for worldly advancement." It will appear from the above passages that when installed as a family goddess, the image should have an alligator as her vehicle. The presumption is, that she may not have this feature when installed in a temple for public worship. It is 26

noteworthy that some of the images hitherto found, do not show any vehicle. D@I The image No. D () of the Rajsahi museum does not appear to have the vehicle alligator, but exhibits the nine planets instead. The attributes of the three varieties of the images of Gauri, then, are as follows:Gauri Boon, Rosary, Lotus, Protection. Uma www Lotus, Rosary, Mirror, Waterpot. Parvati Rosary, Linga, Ganesa, Waterpot. The images found in Bengal almost invariably have the rosary in the upper right hand and the Trident in the upper left hand; but the attributes of the other two hands vary. There is a distinct variety of these images in which the rosary in the upper right hand is accompanied by a Siva-Linga. On the strength of this distinctive attribute, these images may be classed as Parvati, though they do not tally in all the particulars required by the Rupamandanam in the Parvati images. The rather rare image in which the usual trident is replaced by a mirror (Rajsahi Museum, No. 6)6) in the upper left hand, should, on similar grounds, be taken as an image of Uma. The rest should have the common appellation of Gauri. 273 In some of the images of Gauri, the vehicle alligator looks like a mongoose. The ignorance of the sculptor is perhaps responsible for the deviation. 3. B. (ii) o Image of Gauri in octo-alloy metal, 7 x 21 It is a finely preserved image, very well-executed and of considerable artistic merit. The face of the goddess has a kind of benevolent motherliness and goodliness in its expression. She wears the Jatamukuta and has, clockwise,Fruit, Rosary, Trident (looking like the branch of a tree with three offshoots) and Vase in her four hands,

. 200. Gauri. 3. B. (ii) c

. TO FACE P, 201. (a) Gauri at Paikpada. (b) Gauri from Arial. (Vide addendum.)

the IMAGES OF PARVATI 201 The vehicle alligator is depicted near the lotus pedestal, to proper left, moving towards the left of the spectator. Found from a tank near the the High-school compound at Sonarang, P. S. Tangivadi, Dt. Dacca. 2 c Presented by Babu Sasi Kumara Sena of Sonarang. 3. B. (ii) Image of Gauri in greenish soap-stone, 30"x 17" The portion below the knee is broken away and lost. The image is much weather-worn. The goddess holds, clockwise,Boon, Rosary, Trident (branch-like) and Vase. Found somewhere in the village of Vajrayogini, P. S. Munsiganj, Dt. Dacca, and presented by Rai Ramesa Chandra Guha Bahadur. [1. A splendid image of Gauri in black stone, about 51 in height, preserved in the house of the Khasnabis family of Paikpara, P. S. Tangivadi, District Dacca, and discovered from a ditch close by. The goddess has a smiling countenance. She wears the Jatamukuta and has, (clockwise), Boon, Rosary, Trident and Protection. A female attendant stands on either side. The one to the proper right has a long-handled axe in her left hand and a Rosary in the right. The left one has a fly-whisk in her right hand; the left hand is broken. An animal (alligator ?) looking very much like a mongoose occupies the space below the lotus pedestal. Two devotees are depicted on the right side of the mongoose and a pair of antelopes, reposing, appear on either side.]