Digital Rare Book:
The Development of Hindu Iconography
By Jitendra Nath Banerjea
Published by The University of Calcutta - 1941

Read book online:

http://bit.ly/2CVvFgc

Download pdf book:

http://bit.ly/2HY0mWs

PREFACE

T. A. Gopinatha Rao’s 'Elements of Hindu Iconography' (Vols. I and II, published under the auspices of the Travancore State in 1914 and 1916 respectively) has so long been and still is the standard work on the subject. Some other works on it, such as H. Krishna Sastri’s South Indian Gods and Goddesses, B. C. Bhattacharya’s Indian Images, Part I, J. Dubreuil’s South Indian Iconography, the Brahmanical section of N. K. Bhattasali’s Iconography of the Buddhist and Brahmanical Sculptures in the Dacca Museum, etc., have been published since then. Krishna Sastri’s and Dubreuil’s works, as their names imply, deal with the South Indian images only, while Bhattacharya’s book treats of several North Indian Hindu images of the Gupta and the post-Gupta periods. Bhattasali discusses the special features of the Brahmanical sculptures found mostly in Eastern Bengal. So none of these works can claim to be as full and comprehensive as the monumental work of T. A. G. Rao. But comprehensive as the latter is, it still lacks certain features which are essential for the study of Hindu Iconography. Rao, no doubt, collected a number of very useful iconographic texts (many of which were then unpublished, some are still so even now) in tlie appendices to his volumes, and reproduced numerous early and late mediaeval and some modern sculptures, mostly South Indian, to illustrate the same, but the development of the individual iconographic types has seldom been discussed by him. To show this development, it is not only necessary to study critically the extant reliefs and single sculptures of the Gupta, Kushan and pre-Kushan periods, but a careful and systematic handling of the numismatic and glyptic remains of India of the same periods is also indispensable. When earlier sculptural types of gods and goddesses are not available, ancient Indian coin and seal devices help us remarkably in determining the mode of their representation in the remote past. To refer to one or two instances : The Buddha type on Kanishka’s coins, the Gaja-LaksmI device on the coins of Bahasatiraita, Azilises and Rajuvula, and the ‘ Varaha avatar,’ one on the ‘ Adivaraha drammas ’ of the Gurjara Pratihara king Bhoja I, fully show how they were based on the contemporary representations of the same divinities in Indian plastic art.

Not only the above-mentioned data have not been utilised by Rao, but the earliest monumental and epigraphic ones also have not been fully made use of by him. But his was a pioneer work and it must be said that many of the above materials were not available to him. In the course of long years of teaching the subject to the Post-Graduate students of the Calcutta University, I felt the need of the systematic ollection of tlie above materials and their careful study in relation to Hindu Iconography. The present work is the outcome of years of collection and first-hand study of not only such archaeological data, but also of bringing together many new texts relevant to the subject, which have not yet been fully noticed. This volume, however, mainly deals with the general principle-; of Hindu Iconography, and the early iconographic types of Hindu divinities as determinable by ancient Indian coins and seals. It is thus complete in itself and - I intend to follow it up with two more volumes dealing with the numerous Hindu cult images and their accessories.

In the first chapter of this book, after giving an idea about the subject itself, I have indicated the lines in which the study of Hindu Iconography should be conducted and the varieties of materials handled in its scientific treatment.

The second and third chapters contain elaborate discussions about the antiquity and origin of image worship in India. In them I have tried to appraise critically the views of previous scholars on the above probleon and have given my own based on literary and archaeological data.

In the fourth and fifth chapters I have shown how the ancient Indian coins and seal-impressions can materially help us in ascertaining the early iconographic types of a number of Hindu divinities and their emblems, many of which would have otherwise remained unknown to us. In the sixth chapter I have elaborately discussed the technique of the Iconoplastic art in India with the help of a variety of indigenous texts, few of which were critically studied by the previous writers on the subject. I have also discussed there the various factors whicli contributed to the development of this art in India and the nature and extent of their individual contributions. In the seventh chapter have been explained the various technical terms and terminologies that are frequently to be be found in iconographic texts, a correct knowledge of which is essential to every student of Hindu Iconography. In the eighth and last chapter the Indian canons of Iconoraetry have been discussed, a proper understanding of which is necessary for the study of this subject.

In course of this I have instituted a brief comparison of the Indian canons with those followed by the Egyptian and the Hellenistic artists of ancient times. It has been found necessary to add three appendices to my hook, in the second one of which I have re-edited the iconometric text entitled ‘Pratimamanalakasanam’ with translation and notes. In all these tasks I have often referred to the views of various previous writers ; reasons have often been adduced by me, whether I accepted or rejected them. I may submit here that my method in the above studies is mainly objective and I have approached the subject chiefly as a student of history and archaeology. This is the reason why I could not utilise some comparatively recent publications of eminent authors which, remarkable as they are, treat Iconography from an angle different from that of mine.

Image:
Shiva as Vanquisher of the Three Cities (Shiva Tripuravijaya),ca. 1000–1020
India, Tamil Nadu

This majestic image of Shiva as the supreme victor over the Three Cities of the demons is one of the greatest realizations of this regal form of Shiva as the destroyer of evil, a masterpiece in the corpus of imperial quality devotional bronze icons produced under Chola patronage. This work may be assigned to the peak of imperial Chola production under Rajarajachola I or his immediate successors. Infused with all the majesty of a conquering king, this form of Shiva was much revered by the Chola rulers, as both their spiritual protector and as a divine role model for their imperial ambitions.

Image and text credit:
© The Metropolitan Museum of Art.