Essay name: Arts in the Puranas (study)
Author:
Meena Devadatta Jeste
Affiliation: Savitribai Phule Pune University / Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute Pune
This essay studies the Arts in the Puranas by reconstructing the theory of six major fine arts鈥擬usic, Dance, Architecture, Sculpture, Painting, and Literature鈥攆rom the Major and Minor Puranas. This thesis shows how ancient sages studied these arts within the context of cultural traditions of ancient India.
Chapter 4 - Sculpture in the Puranas
51 (of 64)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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- 228 Indrani at Puri, the image of Vaisnavi at Kiething, and the image of Camundi at Jaipur agree in many respects with the description given by the Mat syapur膩na. SURYA 56 Surya (the Sun) is the principal deity honoured from
the Vedic times upto this date. This Solar deity was worshipped
in India as a principal cult deity from very early times.
Savitr, Pusana, Mitra, Aryam膩, Vivasvata are his various
aspects which we find in the Vedas. From such ancient times
Surya has been regarded as the soul of all movable and
immovable things. In the Epic period the Sun-worship was highly
developed.
From the early centuries of Christian era the Sun-cult
appears to have developed in Northern India along with a
foreign influence. The Iranian cult of Sun-worship affected
the North Indian Sun-worship. The two forms of Sun-images are
clearly visible in the extant artistic remains. The the North
Indian form was much reoriented by the east Iranian mode of
Sun-worship can be proved by literary and archaeological data.
Many Sun-temples have been erected from time to time.
Besides the Brhat-Samhita, the Visnudharmottara (Ch. 67)
and the Bhavisya Purana (Ch. 12) show the Iranian influence on
the description of the sun-image. The Visnudharmottara clearly
says that the Sun is dressed in Northern style and wears
armours. The Indo-Scythian dress is mentioned as the Udichya-
