Q1.
Take a close look at the samples of Gupta sculptures shown in Fig 7.15.1. and 7.15.2. By looking at the attributes, can you guess which deities are depicted here? Write your observations in the space provided and share your thoughts during the class discussion!
Answer
In Indian sculpture a deity is identified by its attributes — the objects it holds, what it wears, what it stands on. Read the attributes and the names follow.
| Fig. 7.15.1 | Fig. 7.15.2 | |
|---|---|---|
| What you see | A tall rounded stone shaft with a single face carved on its front; piled-up matted hair (jaṭā) in thick coils; a crescent moon tucked into the hair; a mark on the forehead between the brows; heavy earrings and a bead necklace | A standing male figure with four arms; a tall, richly worked crown; a large decorated halo behind the head; a long garland and necklaces; a conch (śhaṅkha) held in one lower hand |
| The give-away attribute | The crescent moon in the matted hair, plus the mark of a third eye — and the shaft itself, which is a liṅga | The four arms with the conch, the kirīṭa crown and the ornate halo |
| The deity | Śhiva — a mukha-liṅga, that is, a liṅga with the god’s face emerging from it | Viṣhṇu |
Why this identification is safe: the crescent moon and the matted jaṭā belong to Śhiva alone — he is Chandraśhekhara, ‘the one with the moon in his hair’. The conch is one of Viṣhṇu’s four emblems (conch, discus, mace, lotus), and a many-armed god in a tall crown with a great halo is the standard Gupta way of showing him. The chapter itself gives you two independent confirmations that these are the right gods for this period: the Gupta rulers were devout followers of Viṣhṇu (page 156), and the Udayagiri caves are famous for carvings of deities, especially Viṣhṇu.
Also look at Fig. 7.15.3, the third image — the caption identifies it for you. Two terracotta figures from Ahichchhatra in western Uttar Pradesh represent India’s sacred rivers, and again the vāhana settles the identification:
- Ganga stands on a makara — a mythical creature akin to a crocodile.
- Yamuna stands on a tortoise.
- Both have water flowing over their heads and carry a pot — reminders that they are rivers.
Try this: make a two-column list in your notebook — attribute and deity. Crescent moon and matted hair → Śhiva. Conch, discus, garland → Viṣhṇu. Makara → Ganga. Tortoise → Yamuna. Garuḍa → Viṣhṇu (the chapter tells us Garuḍa appears on Chandragupta II’s inscriptions). Once you know the list, you can identify sculptures in any museum without reading the label first.