Tuesday, July 10, 2018

'Ornaments of Lord Vishnu' - by K.J.S.Chatrath


I came across this wonderful statue of Lord Vishnu from Konark, Odisha, 13th century, Ganga Dynasty at the National Museum, New Delhi.

Vishnu iconography shows him with a dark blue, blue-gray or black colored skin, and as a well dressed jeweled god. He is typically shown with four arms. Lord Vishnu is known to be “Alankara priya”- One who loves to be adored with flowers and ornaments. He is said to be one 'who is blazing with the countless Divine Ornaments: the Crown, the Diadem; and, for the head, ears, neck, breast, arms, wrists, waist and ankles, such (jewels) as Cudavatarhsa, Makara-kundala, Graiveyaka-hara, Keyura, Kataka, Shri-vatsa, Kaustubha, Mukta-damodara-bandhana, Pitambara, Kanchiguna, Nupura etc.'  (https://hinduism.stackexchange.com/questions/16157/what-scriptures-describe-vishnus-mukta-damodara-bandana)  ;While there are descriptions of his conch shell, gada etc, I have not been able to find detail descriptions  of the jewels adorning him and what they represent.

Take a look at the photos of this statue and see if you can locate something significant:

The necklace seems to be studded with precious stones- emeralds and rubies, perhaps? There seems to be some unevenness in the fourth row from the top.

 The lower cloth and the ornaments show the work of craftsmen of Odisha in the 13th century. Here too the number of beads in the hanging ornament are different in number when one compares the right and the left sides of the ornaments. It is impossible to imagine that the master craftsmen of the time erred.Was there a reason which we have not been able to discover as yet?

The lines seem to indicate a fine cloth. But the more impressive part is the garland which is not hanging from theneck but is shown tossed around from one side moving to the back. The armlets are heavy and neatly crafted.



It is not clear what do these ear rings look like but Lord Vishu's earrings are said to be shaped like Makara the sea monster (makara-kundala).

I would welcome inputs on this topic of ornaments of Lord Vishnu.

'Bateswar Group of over 200 temples in Morena -A lesser known gem of India' - by K J S Chatrath

Late last year, I visited the Bateswar Group of over 200 temples in Morena district in Madhya Pradesh, India. These belong to the 8th - 10t...