Paintings from Rajasthan.

Representation of music (i.e., various Raag and Ragini) and festivals has been beautifully done in ancient themed Rajasthani paintings.  The first photo shows rain music (i.e., raag 'megh malhar') i.e., a sound, in the form of painting i.e., a vision.  The raag 'megh malhar' is associated with rains and therefore the raag, personified as a dark (alludes to dark rain clouds) complexioned man, is pictured in the backdrop of rain clouds.  The painting is currently housed in Albert Hall, Jaipur (State Museum of Rajasthan).

The second painting shows ragini bhairavi (bhairavi in Sanskrit means 'shiva') worshipping shiva linga.  Other raginis are shown as companions.

The following painting shows Raag Deepak (deepak refers to wicker lamp) in painting form.

The following painting shows Raag Bhairavi (Bhairon in Sanskrit refers to Shiva).  Various Raginis are shown worshipping the lingam i.e., Shiva.

Changing Forms of Sivalinga through history.

The following are the photographs of various sculptures of Sivalinga that date from Kushana (1st century B.C.E) and Gupta period (5th century C.E).  In those days, it was customary to sculpt a face of a deity, including that of Siva, on the linga.  However, these days, the sivalinga is made without any deity face on it.  This is a major change in the design of the sivalinga over time.  A sculpture of Sivalinga shown below is 5 faced i.e., it has been made as a group of 5 lingas, with a deity face on the lingas (1 lingam in the centre and 4 lingas around it; Gupta period).  It is made from mottled red sand stone (typical stone used in the Mathura School of Art sculptures).  It is housed in the State Museum at Mathura (India).  Such deity faced lingam's remind one of oval shaped Buddhist stupas which by Mahayana period (around Gupta period i.e., 4th century C.E) started appearing with the image of Gautama Buddha on them, as in Ajanta caves.  As per ancient Indian mindset, meditation involves focussing on 'shoonyata' (nothingness) and in that regard, oval sort of shape of the lingam and the stupa is helpful. The oval shape of lingam and stupa was originally meant to be an icon/symbol of deity and buddha respectively. Over time, actual images of deities and that of buddha were sculpted on the lingam and stupa respectively. During the life time of Buddha, he forbade his image worship or for that matter did not permit his image to be drawn. This continued all through the Hinayana phase but by the time Mahayana phase of Buddhism ushered in full force, buddha images were quite popular.


The one faced Sivalingam is from the Kushana period, now housed in the State Museum of Mathura.

Mathura Museum Artifacts.

The above photo is of a Boddhisatva sculpture from 2nd century A.D.  The slipper design in India has not changed since then! 

The following photo shows Kushana King ,Wima, seated on a throne.  A script appears on the floor of the sculpture which identifies him as the Kushana King.  The sculpture is housed in the State Museum at Mathura, India.

 

On Iconography of Goddess Parvati...

Shiv Parvati sculpture from Chattisgarh State Museum.

Parvati, the consort of Lord Shiva, is one of the most popularly sculpted goddess in Indian history.  Partial credit is due to Lord Shiva as many a times Parvati is shown along with Shiva.  Parvati has various other incarnations such as goddess Kali, Durga etc.  Iconographically, it is easy to recognise Parvati when she is shown along with Shiva as Shiva's sculpture characteristics are easy to recognise (i.e., nandi, the bull, snakes, trident, jatamukut etc).  Shiva is typically shown wearing Kundals in his ear lobes, and so is Parvati.  Shiva is shown with a jata mukut (hair crown) and so is Parvati.  Many a times, the Kundalas are in the form of snake (sarp kundala).  Shown below are some photographs that I have collected from various museums that go on to highlight the iconographic characteristics of Parvati.  Sometimes Parvati is shown in combination with Shiva though the body is one.  In that case, a third eye is shown in the centre of her forehead.



The above photo is of Shiva- Parvati Sculpture kept in National Museum, New Delhi (11th century C.E; Pala Dynasty, Bihar, India).  As can be seen, Parvati is typically shown wearing the same ear ornaments (such as sarp kundala) as Shiva, and also has an unusually large head bun, just like Shiva.

On excavations of Village Ikkas (District Jind, Haryana, India)

City of Jind is situated approximately 200 KM north of New Delhi.
(All images are copy righted by the author.  Kindly obtain permission before using them).

The above photo shows a window/ ventillator screen of a village house (Ikkas Village, Jind District, Haryana, India) decorated with hindu deity images, birds, elephant, and other flora.  Indeed, it shows a highly developed decorative sense of people living and constructing these houses, which now seem to be in dilapidated state.
The image of the women on the ventilator screen is perhaps that of "Gajalakshmi" as she is shown along with elephant images.


The above photo is of a stone image of a royal, possibly goddess Parvati.  This bust was reportedly found in the Ikkas village pond when the pond's base surface was de- silted.  Ikkas village is known to be an old village in the area.  Before it was called Ikkas (i.e., a twisted pronounciation of the prakrit word ikkis i.e., 21), the village was reportedly known as Ajitpur.  A belief goes that it took 21 days for the villagers to find evidence related to the link between the village and Mahabarata character Yudhistir.  Since that find, the village has been called Ikkas.


Regarding the date to which this stone image pertains, an educated guess work based on previously found and dated stone image of lord Shiva and wife Parvati (10 C.E, now kept in National Museum, New Delhi and its photo shown below)  from the near by area (of Rohtak district, Haryana) places it at 10th C.E.




The ear ring jewellery of Shiv and Parvati and that of the stone image of the Ikkas goddess, is identical (i.e., clockwise spiral forming circular ear rings called kundal in sanskrit).  Further, the Ikkas image also shows the goddess having 3 distinct creases on her neck (ref: Acceptable Indian Iconography).  Such neck creases are said to bestow deity status on the individual.

The head dress of the Ikkas stone image is quite elaborate and the decorated hair bun also stands out.  It consists of a three distict, longitudinal attachments from near the forehead to a veil covering the back side of her head.  The central one resembles peacock feather or possibly a snake head.  There or  seems to be a band like structure near the hairline of the forehead, which perhaps is part of the crown.



The eye brows are joined together.  There appears serenity on the face, typical of majority of deity images (unless bhairav or kali etc is shown).  There is no 'bindi' on the forehead.  The eyes are big and look opened.There seems to be one jewellery chain around the neck (or it could also be the outline of a blouse since she is shown covering her head with a veil too).  The unusually large hair bun and the ear kundalas, auspicious neck creases, serene countenance, snake head shaped crown, all point to the image being that of goddess Parvati.  Incidentally, the stone image is kept in a Shiva temple in Ikkas village.

The head veil shows it has been decorated with flower motif and the ends are lined with ball shaped design - perhaps small bells - the same kind that are tied around the neck of Nandi, the bull, which is also goddess Parvati's ride..
On closer examination of the breast area of the figure, one can see a similar floral motif near the left nipple location.  Hence, in all liklihood, the Ikkas goddess figure is shown wearing a blouse.Now when that is settled ( :) ), there are some photographs below of the Ikkas village residents.  People of the village went out of their way to show their hospitality and made me thoroughly comfortable.  It is their generosity that allowed me to see and photograph the sculpture.




In the above photograph, the incredible chef of the household, who prepared the delicious meal (photographed here too) that was so lovingly served to me.

On Sirpur Excavations - Part II.

The Laxman temple of Sirpur is an archaetectural marvel, especially from aesthetic perspective.  Laxman is the brother of Lord Rama (of Ramayana epic).  This temple is supposedly the only temple in India dedicated to Rama's brother, Laxman.  Another characteristic of the Laxman temple (besides its archaelogical significance as it is dated 6th C.E and constructed by South Kosala dynasty) is that it is made from red burnt bricks.  The original color of the temple seems to be white as evident from the left over white color on the outside of the temple bricks.
(All images are copyrighted by Urmila Duhan.  Kindly obtain permission before using them).






The photo below in white has been artificially colored white (Adobe Photoshop) as the original color of the temple was white as a result of white plastering on it.  The photograph gives a comparison of how it is now (red bricks) compared to how it looked in original state.  (Thanks to Mr. S.K. Sharma of A.S.I for coloring the photo white for me).

The board erected by the ASI at the temple site is shown below.  It gives details about the historical and archaeological significance of the site and also it's geographical location.





Above photo shows the outside view of Laxman Temple, Sirpur, Chattisgarh, India.

The mythological reason for naming it Laxman temple even though it is largely dedicated to Lord Vishnu's protector (shesh naag i.e., snake canopy over lord Vishnu) is that Lord Rama is considered an avatar (re-incarnation) of Vishnu and the shesh naag is Vishnu's forever companion and protector.  The Shesh Naag therefore also re incarnated as Vishnu's companion and protector in the form of lord Rama's brother, Laxman.  Laxman fiercely protected his brother Rama during Rama's exile period as detailed in the epic Ramayana.
The entrance to the temple has remnants of multiple pillars (seen as seat shaped carved stones in light brown and dark brown color).  Thus the temple was more elaborate in structure compared to its current form.



Polished couple images (in meditative hand postures and otherwise) on the entrance door.  On careful examination, all images of the female are without a 'bindi' on their forehead.  It therefore seems that the current fashion of applying a 'bindi' on forehead by women especially if married, is a social phenomenon that perhaps took place in the later era i.e., 12th C.E and later as per my observation.  Women in 6 C.E also did not mandatorily cover their head/face with a veil, as it is customary in rural India these days.  Men preferably remained clean shaven.


The woman in the above image is shown holding mango tree branch and the man in gyan mudra.  They are lovers/couple as evident from their feet touching each others.
The outer, exposed facade of the temple shows white colored plaster over the red bricks, that is now almost completely gone, except few patches here and there.  It is amazing though that the bricks have withstood all kinds of weather through so many centuries without the protective plaster layering.

A long shot of Laxman Temple with monsoon clouds in the backdrop and lush greenery surrounding it.  A very pleasant sight indeed!

Photographs showing decorations on the outer temple walls.  The temple must've looked very attractive in white color as well, i think.


                             This is indeed a very beautiful temple!  Here the nobleman is shown with a halo and the woman that he is holding must also be noble as she also has a halo around her head.  Parrot, a symbol of love and truthtelling, is shown perched on the womans side and seems to be communicating with the man (as evident from its open beak).  The man seems to be in a pleasant mood as evident from the slight smile on his face.  To some it may appear that that the man is trying to pull the woman closer to him.  Perhaps, there may have been a tiff between them as the woman is not smiling and requires the man to pull her closer! (Thank you Dr. Subodh Mittra (of ASI, New Delhi) for sharing your thoughts on iconography with me).



On closer examination of the video posted above, one maybe able to see the undulating motion of a snake that is moving along the crevices between white horizontal floor and dark brown vertical rocks/bricks.  This constructed portion surrounds the Laxman temple.