Vishnudharmottara Purana (Art and Architecture)
by Bhagyashree Sarma | 2021 | 59,457 words
This page relates ‘The Vishnudharmottara-purana and Modern Iconography’ of the study on the elements of Art and Architecture according to the Vishnudharmottara Purana: an ancient text whose third book deals with various artisan themes such as Architecture, Painting, Dance, Grammar, etc. Many chapters are devoted to Hindu Temple architecture and the iconography of Deities and their installation rites and ceremonies.
6. The Viṣṇudharmottara-purāṇa and Modern Iconography
In Hinduism, the tradition of worshipping of idols has been continuing from early period in India. History shows that from the date of antiquity people used to connect themselves with their lords through the medium of the images of different deities in different forms. Thus the practice of image making had come forward. Different treatises of Sanskrit literature deal with the topic of image making. In this context it is worth mentioning that the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa also gives a huge contribution towards the study of image making in which different structures of different deities are beautifully explained. The perspectives of the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa as well as other treatises have already discussed in the 5th chapter of this dissertation. The influences of those early scriptures are seen to fall on the images of different deities discovered in various states of India at different times. Those images or idols are generally seen to be engraved on the walls of temples or these are preserved in some museums of India as well as different museums of foreign countries. The statues of different deities found in different places are mentioned here.
a) Brahmā:
A granite based sculpture of Brahmā with four heads and four hands seated on a stool of Lotus, as referred in the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa is seen to be preserved in The Cleveland Museum of Art.
Figure: Brahmā with four heads and four hands seated on Lotus[1]
b) Viṣṇu:
The statue of Viṣṇu along with his carrier Garuḍa of which a reference is there in the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, is found in the Changu Narayan Temple of Kathmandu, Nepal. This temple is located in Changunarayan metropolis of Bhaktapur District of Kathmandu of Nepal.
Moreover, a partly destroyed stone statue of Viṣṇu seated on Garuḍa is also seen to be preserved in the Doul Govinda temple of North Guwahati, Assam. The following figures show the picture of the idols of Viṣṇu.
Figure: Viṣṇu on Garuḍa[2] Figure: Viṣṇu on Garuḍa[3]
c) Mahādeva:
Mahādeva is an epithet of Lord Śiva. In the Art institute of Chicago a statue of Lord Śiva along with his wife Pārvatī seated on a Bull is preserved. The following figure shows the picture of the idol of Lord Śiva and Pārvatī.
Figure: Śiva seated on bull[4]
In the scriptures of ancient India, Lord Śiva is imagined somewhere with three, somewhere with four or five heads. The Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa shows the reference of five faces of Lord Śiva. A point to be noted here is that liṅga or phallus is worshiped as an icon of Lord Śiva. According to the Śivapurāṇa, the phallus is the emblem i.e. the sign of union of Lord Śiva and Śakti, for whom it is the symbol.[5] Sometimes the liṅga is seen to be associated with faces and in the five faced phallus, the face of īśāṇa should be on the top and the other four faces should face four direction viz. east, south, west and north respectively.[6] . In the Budhanilakantha Temple of Nepal, a phallus with five faces is seen to be worshiped. The following figure shows the picture of that phallus.
Figure: Five faced phallus[7]
Moreover, on the wall of the elephanta caves of Mumbai, Maharashtra, a rock-cut statue of three faced lord Śiva of 8th Century can be seen.[8] The below mentioned figure shows the picture of that three faced lord Śiva.
Figure: Three faced lord Śiva[9]
d) Yama:
In the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa the statue of Yama has been portrayed as holding ḍaṇḍa, khaḍga and carma and He is seated on a buffalo along with his two companions viz. Citragupta and Kāla. A statue of Yama with Citragupta and Kāla associated with a buffalo below is seen to be engraved on the wall of Rājārāni Temple, Bhubaneswar, Odisha. The following figure shows the picture of the statue of Yama. In this picture Yama is seen to hold a ḍaṇḍa and a noose.
Figure: Yama with Citragupta and Kāla[10]
e) Varuṇa:
The statue of Varuṇa seated on swans, found in the National
Museum of Cambodia has sufficient resemblance with the description found in the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, where the image of Varuṇa is specifically described as seated on a chariot of swans. On the other hand, Kāśyapaśilpa accepts crocodile as the seat of Varuṇa. The following figures show the statues of Varuṇa.
Figure: Varuṇa, seated on swans[11] Figure: Varuṇa, seated on crocodile[12]
f) Vahni:
The Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa states that having matted hair is an identity of Vahni or Agni. A statue of Agni with matted hair is seen to be preserved in the Delhi Museum. Moreover, the statue of Agni along with his wife Svāhā, is also seen to be preserved in the Walters art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland. The following figures show the pictures of the statue of Agni preserved in the Delhi Museum and Walters art Museum.
Figure: Agni with Matted here[13] Figure: Agni with Svāhā[14]
g) Vāyu:
A rock cut sculpture of the god Vāyu with a dress flown by wind as mentioned in the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa is seen to be carved on the wall of Badami Cave, Karnataka. The following figure shows the picture of god Vāyu of Badami Cave.
Figure: Vāyu with a flowing dress[15]
h) Śakra:
Śakra is an epithet of god Indra. A rock cut carving of Hindu god Indra, sitting on his elephant along with his wife Sacī, is seen to be engraved on the wall of Chennakesava temple of Somanathapur, Karnataka, South India. In this carving, the statue of Indra is seen to have vajra in his left hand and an elephant goad in the right hand which has resemblance with the view of the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa. The following figure shows the picture of god Indra.
Figure: Indra with his wife Sacī[16]
i) Āditya:
In the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, the statue of god Āditya i.e. Sun is referred to as wearing a dress of Northern India, holding lotus and reign of sunbeams. The following picture of the Sun god preserved in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art is seen to hold a lotus. The statue of Sun god preserved in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art is quite broken for which it is not possible to assume the complete structure. Again, a statue of Sun god of Kuṣāna period, wearing northern styled attire along with a cap, particularly seen in Himachal Pradesh is preserved in the Government Museum of Mathura, Uttar Pradesh.
Figure: Sun god holding lotus[17] Figure: Sun god in Northern attire[18]
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
Source: Google, Picture Credit: Leonard C. Hanna & Jr. Fund, Venue: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio, USA.
[2]:
Source: Google, Picture Credit: Ian Trower, Date of picture taken: 28.03.2013, Vanue: Changu Narayan Temple, Bhaktapur, UNESCO world Heritage site, Kathmandu, Nepal.
[3]:
Picture is taken by Myself. Date of Picture taken: 11.09.2021, Venue: Doul Govinda Temple, North Guwahati, Assam.
[4]:
Source Google, Picture Credit: Saliko, Date of picture taken: 28.10.2016, Vanue: Art Institute of Chicago.
[5]:
[6]:
T.A. Gopinatha Rao, Elements of Hindu Iconography, Vol-2, Part-1, p.64
[7]:
Picture Credit: Mero Raja/ merorajaram@gmail.com, Venue: Budhanilakantha Temple, Kathmandu, Nepal
[8]:
Vasudeva S.Agrawala, The Heritage of Indian Art, p.64
[9]:
[10]:
Source: Google, Picture Credit: Dinodia Photos RM, Date of picture taken:14.03.2015, Vanue: Rajarani Temple, Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
[11]:
Source: Google, Picture Credit: Millennium of Glory, p.219, Vanue: National Museum of Cambodia
[12]:
[13]:
Source: Google, Photo Credit: Wayfarer/Army stock photo, Date of picture taken: 05.01.2019, Vanue: Delhi Museum.
[14]:
Source: Google, Credit: Rudi Oriental Art, New York, Purchased by John and Berthe Ford, Baltimore, 1976, Given to Walters Art Museum, 2003.
[15]:
Source: Google, Photo Credit: India Travel, Lazyppl, Date of picture posted: 29.09.2013, Vanue: Badami Cave, Karnataka.
[16]:
Source: Google, Photo Credit: Nilanewsom, Vanue: Chennakesava temple of Somanathapur, Karnataka.
[17]:
Source: Google, Picture Credit: Ashley Van Haeften, Date of picture taken: 23.06.2021, Venue: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California, USA.
[18]:
Source: Google, Picture Credit: Biswarup Ganguly, Date of picture taken: 23.02.2013, Venue: Government Museum, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh.