Stele with Vishnu and Attendants in the Princeton University Art Museum, April 2017

Indian, Pala dynasty, 10th–12th century

Place made: India

Stele of Vishnu and attendants, 10th–11th century

Black schist

h. 79.0 cm., w. 44.5 cm., d. 16.0 cm. (31 1/8 x 17 1/2 x 6 5/16 in.)

Museum purchase, John Maclean Magie, Class of 1892, and Gertrude Magie Fund

y1961-47


Catalogue Entry:

Vishnu, Preserver of the Universe, is presented in a full frontal pose wearing the traditional adornments of a king. In his four hands he holds his primary attributes: a jewel, a conch, a flaming wheel, and a mace. The conch is a symbol of creation, the wheel symbolizes cosmic law, and the mace represents the power of the law. The jewel is a symbol of the fulfillment of the law, and the hand that holds it is extended in the mudra of wish fulfillment. Lakshmi holds a fly whisk in her right hand, while her left hand, now lost, probably held a lotus flower. ­Sarasvati plays a lute. Diminutive figures standing to either side of the two goddesses are personifications of a mace (gadha) and a flaming wheel (chakra). All five primary figures stand on lotus blossoms. In the lower register, Vishnu’s winged mount, Garudha, who kneels reverently with his palms pressed together, is accompanied on either side by devotees of Vishnu.

The pentad is ensconced in Vishnu’s mandorla, the top of which is lost. At the sides is a pair of leaping mythical beasts (shardulas) with lions’ bodies and composite heads supported by elephants. Each shardula is ridden by a youth, while other figures attempt to reign in the beasts. At the upper sides of the mandorla, two heavenly beings, one playing an instrument, herald the presence of the deity.


Gallery Label:

Regarded as the Preserver of the Universe, Vishnu is one of the most important gods in the Hindu pantheon. He is known in twenty-four forms and here appears in the form of a giant called Trivikrama. The god is accompanied by various animals as well as four female deities in sinuous poses. In the center of the symmetrical and hierarchical composition, Vishnu holds four attributes in his four hands: a now broken club (gada) representing his power in his upper right hand; a lotus (padma) that alludes to rebirth in his lower right; a wheel (cakra) for enlightenment in his upper left; and a conch (sankha) representing life-giving water in his lower left.


Text from: artmuseum.princeton.edu/collections/objects/28869