The four faces of Vaikuṇtha Vishnu representants its four emanations or vyuha, namely Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. The side faces are that of a boar and a lion, characteristic of Vaikuntha’s iconography. He is depicted seated in the lalitasana posture. The architectural fragment is now housed in the Government Museum, Sikar. This important image of Vaikuntha Vishnu reveals the presence of the Pancharatna form of Vaishnavism at Harsha hill. Pancharatna had spread to various regions of Rajasthan from the 8th century CE onwards, with its most notable manifestations in temples like the Harshatmata Temple of Abhaneri. This image signifies its influence, albeit in a limited manner, up to the region of Shekhavati. The niches on either side depict damsels and musicians. The four faces of Vaikuntha Vishnu representants its four emanations or vyuha, namely Vasudeva, Sankarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. The side faces are that of a boar and a lion, characteristic of Vaikuṇtha’s iconography. He is depicted seated in the lalitasana posture.
Image courtesy: The Government Museum, Sikar
The pillars in the mandapa of the Harshnath Temple lack homogeneity, suggesting they may have been replaced at a later date. One of these pillars is enriched with beautiful images of apsaras and female deities like Parvati, as seen in this image, situated within the niches of the pillar. Under these pillar niches are panels depicting musicians, dancers, celestial beings, deities like Ganesha and ascetics. The four-armed Goddess depicted here appears to be Goddess Bhairavi. She holds a staff crowned with a skull and an attribute resembling a mace in her right hand. The left arm above is broken and the lower one is placed near her vahana, a dog. The panel below depicts dancers and musicians.
The fragments, on Harsha Hill, depict several human figures in diverse actions, although it is unclear if they form a coherent narrative. The left extreme fragment is defaced, followed by a depiction of a female figure reclining on a couch and being served by numerous female attendants. This scene evokes the Krishna-story panels quite popular in various temple sites of Rajasthan from the 8th century CE, with some references probably dating even earlier. However, the absence of an infant on the couch makes it difficult to identify the female figure with certainty as Yashoda. On the right extreme, there are various armed figures depicted.
Housed in the Government Museum, Sikar, it is identified as the figure ’Killing of Asavathama elephant by Pandava prince, Bhima’ on the label. However, the identification has little support beyond speculation. Given the size of the figure and its delicate rendition, another speculation arises, suggesting it may depict Shiva as Gajantak, the killer of the demon elephant.
Image courtesy: The Government Museum, Sikar
It appears that the beam, adorned with intricately carved human figures, was probably placed on the varandika of the temple, the adjoining portions between the temple walls and the spire. The protruding offsets typically feature mithuna figures inside the niches, while the recess between the two offsets is beautifully carved with images of apsaras or women engaged in different actions. The male figures are usually shown with weapons and accompanied by female companions. This fragment is one of the loose architectural fragments on Harsha Hill.
The temple, which is in a ruinous condition, consists of a mulaprasada of tri-anga specification, joined by a rangamandapa. It lacks the pitha but starts from a single plinth-course. The vedibandha is damaged in some places but otherwise had a kumbha with intricate udgama motif and a small central box carrying a figure. The jangha, which is almost totally ruined, had dikpalas at the karnas, as evidenced by remains in the northeastern corner. The surasundaris were likely present at the pratirathas and the salilantara-recesses. Inside the sanctum is a shivalinga in active worship, seemingly contemporaneous with the main shrine. The temple lacks any superstructure, which could have collapsed over centuries since its construction. Stylistically, the architecture of the Harshnath Temple falls in the Maha-Maru style but exhibits several emerging Maru-Gurjara style elements, particularly evident in the base mouldings and other temple elements.
It is likely a figure of the dikpala Agni (the God of fire) holding a kamandalu (pot) in his left hand. The image of a directional deity that once adorned the temple wall and is now affixed on a late medieval structure on Harsha Hill.
Around a dozen of sub-shrines were built on Harsha Hill in the 10th and 11th centuries CE. These were dedicated to various Brahmanical deities, as indicated by the architectural fragments. Unlike a Panchayatan temple or a planned temple complex, the irregular placement and size-proportions of these sub-shrines suggest a random and unplanned construction process over an extended period of time.
The doorway of the garbhagriha consists of five panchashakha (jambs) of the Harshnath Temple. Pairs of dvarapala (door guardian) and river goddesses (Ganga-Yamuna) occupy their standard positions at the bottom of the jamb. Mithuna figures are carved on either side in their typical positions. In the foreground are elaborately carved pillars with purna-ghatas, which, according to Art historian Ambika Dhaka, maybe a later replacement.