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  • 1. Dance of Gods in Indra’s Heaven

    Description:
    In the frieze of the drumming and dancing gods are Indra, seated on his elephant Airavata; a warrior holding a sword and shield, and an Apsara. Stella Kramrisch, in her work Hindu Temples (vol-2, plate LXVIII, p. 402-403) describes the spirit of the image in the following manner: 'the movement sways and surges to either side of a standing god who holds a long lance and seems to have ushered in before Indra the warrior so that he becomes one of the dancers. Indra, enthroned in a posture of ease, the right hand raised in Abhaya-mudra, grants fearlessness; his left-hand holds the Vajra. Small shapes surround him, Matali, his mahout, and companion spirits, Marut-like.' The elephant's trunk and the warrior's legs are interlaced; the warrior's is the largest movement; across the depth of the relief, he steps forward into the line of the celestials. Their dance vibrates, to the stamping of the feet, a suave tremor free from tension.” This image resonates with verse 7 of the Harsha stone inscription of Vigraharaja which mentions that the lord Harsha (Shiva) is worshipped on the hill by the joyous divine host, Indra.
    Keyword:
    Sikar, Harshnath Temple, Temples of India, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Architecture, Shakhambari Chahamanas, Rajasthan, and Temple
    Creator:
    Temples of India Project Team
    Contributor:
    Anchit Jain
    Owner:
    tushar1.ayyar@jioinstitute.edu.in
    Publisher:
    Jio Institute
    Location:
    Sikar
    Date Uploaded:
    10-05-2024
    Date Modified:
    10-05-2024
    Rights Statement Tesim:
    In Copyright
    Resource Type:
    Image

  • 2. Unknown yogini

    Description:
    This is one of the many images of yoginis found at the site hinting towards a lost yogini temple compound. Contextualizing this image with several other relevant images suggests a maturity of Shakti and tantric traditions at the site. The placid expressions of this two-armed yogini seated in the lalitasana pose suggest her benevolent nature.
    Keyword:
    Rajasthan, Temples of India, Temple, Shakhambari Chahamanas, Harshnath Temple, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Sikar, and Architecture
    Creator:
    Temples of India Project Team
    Contributor:
    Anchit Jain
    Owner:
    tushar1.ayyar@jioinstitute.edu.in
    Publisher:
    Jio Institute
    Location:
    Sikar
    Date Uploaded:
    09-05-2024
    Date Modified:
    09-05-2024
    Rights Statement Tesim:
    In Copyright
    Resource Type:
    Image

  • 3. Vaikuntha Vishnu

    Description:
    This important image of Vaikuntha Vishnu reveals the presence of the Pancharatra form of Vaishnavism at Harsha Hill. Pancharatra had spread to various regions of Rajasthan from the eighth century CE onwards, with its most visible manifestations in temples like the Harshatmata Temple of Abhaneri. This image reveals its spread, even if in a limited manner, to the region of Shekhavati. The niches on either side depict damsels and musicians. The four faces of Vaikuntha Vishnu represent its four emanations/vyuha- Vasudeva, Sankarshana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. The side faces are that of boar and lion, typical of Vaikuntha iconography. He is seated in the lalitasana pose. Image courtesy: Government Museum, Sikar
    Keyword:
    Sikar, Architecture, Temples of India, Shakhambari Chahamanas, Rajasthan, Temple, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), and Harshnath Temple
    Creator:
    Temples of India Project Team
    Contributor:
    Anchit Jain
    Owner:
    tushar1.ayyar@jioinstitute.edu.in
    Publisher:
    Jio Institute
    Location:
    Sikar
    Date Uploaded:
    09-05-2024
    Date Modified:
    09-05-2024
    Rights Statement Tesim:
    In Copyright
    Resource Type:
    Image

  • 4. Durga-Mahisasuramardini

    Description:
    This image of Durga-Mahisasuramardini in active worship is smeared with black paint and clothed, which obscures the details of the image. It is one of the many images, contemporaneous to the Harsha shrine, affixed in the enclosure of the Bhairon shrine.
    Keyword:
    Rajasthan, Temples of India, Temple, Shakhambari Chahamanas, Harshnath Temple, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Sikar, and Architecture
    Creator:
    Temples of India Project Team
    Contributor:
    Anchit Jain
    Owner:
    tushar1.ayyar@jioinstitute.edu.in
    Publisher:
    Jio Institute
    Location:
    Sikar
    Date Uploaded:
    09-05-2024
    Date Modified:
    09-05-2024
    Rights Statement Tesim:
    In Copyright
    Resource Type:
    Image

  • 5. Lingodhbhav-murti

    Description:
    This is a depiction of Shiva in the form of lingodhbhav-murti. Stella Kramrisch described this particular image from Harṣha: ‘In the universal night the pillar there was nothing; fiery pillar appeared above the waters. Other than it had no beginning no end. Brahmā flew into the empyrean and failed to reach its top; Viṣnu dived into the depth of the sea and failed to find its bottom. The two great gods thereupon submit and become the acolytes of the Fiery Pillar. The Fiery Pillar is in its splendour. to its greatness and Śiva; he reveals himself. The stele is traversed in its middle by the Fiery Pillar. On the left Brahmā is seen soaring upwards; he is also seen standing, his self-appointed mission unfulfilled, an attendant divinity of the Fiery Pillar. To the right of the Pillar, Viṣnu, blowing his conch, hurls himself downward with the same result; he becomes an acolyte of the Pillar and his standing image swings in the same rhythm as the image of Brahmā. The top of the slab, the high region traversed by the pillar, is a palpitating mass of movement and its shapes are Hamsa-birds and celestial spirits. The vision of the flaming pillar has been given form in this image competently though not adequately; the form is sleek and slight but succeeds in translating the Fiery Pillar into the trunk of the Tree whose branches are Brahmā, Viṣnu and the celestial host.’ (Hindu Temples, vol 2, Plate LXVII, page 402). This is one of the most iconic and celebrated images of Lingodbhava Murti, reputed for the delicacy of the figures, sense of movement and visual impact. In the incorporative landscape of Harsha Hill, having shrines dedicated to various deities, this image marks the Shaiva domination and supremacy at the complex. Image courtesy: Akbari Fort and Museum, Ajmer
    Keyword:
    Sikar, Temples of India, Shakhambari Chahamanas, Rajasthan, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), and Harshnath Temple
    Creator:
    Temples of India Project Team
    Contributor:
    Anchit Jain
    Owner:
    tushar1.ayyar@jioinstitute.edu.in
    Publisher:
    Jio Institute
    Location:
    Sikar
    Date Uploaded:
    09-05-2024
    Date Modified:
    09-05-2024
    Rights Statement Tesim:
    In Copyright
    Resource Type:
    Image

  • 6. Ascetic worshipping the Linga

    Description:
    The pillars in the manḍapa of the Harsha Temple are enriched with beautiful images of apsaras and female deities like Parvati (as depicted in this image) in the niches of the pillars. These female figurines correspond to the plethora of female figurines (Parvati and damsels) depicted inside the sanctum on the walls. Beneath these pillar niches are panels depicting musicians, dancers, celestial beings, deities like Ganesha and ascetics. These Shaiva ascetics align with the overall Shaiva theme of the temple. The depicted image shows an ascetic worshipping the shivalinga. The four-armed Parvati is holding a kamandalu and mala in her lower hands and likely flowers in the upper two. On either side of her are attendant dwarfs. The ascetic shown in the panel below, with long matted hairs, is shown in deep adoration to Shiva.
    Keyword:
    Rajasthan, Temples of India, Shakhambari Chahamanas, Harshnath Temple, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), and Sikar
    Creator:
    Temples of India Project Team
    Contributor:
    Anchit Jain
    Owner:
    tushar1.ayyar@jioinstitute.edu.in
    Publisher:
    Jio Institute
    Location:
    Sikar
    Date Uploaded:
    09-05-2024
    Date Modified:
    09-05-2024
    Rights Statement Tesim:
    In Copyright
    Resource Type:
    Image

  • 7. Parvati in penance

    Description:
    Inside the sanctum of the temple are preserved beautiful sculptures of nayikas on the wall, while at the centre of the principal/back wall, there is a colossal image of Parvati in penance or the pancagni tapa. Interestingly, their names are scribed in the 10th-century Kutila script. The inscribed epithet calls her vikata, a possible explanation for this unusual name would be Gauri treading the vikata-marga by performing penance. Interestingly, the unusual epithet, Vikata, also appears in the Harsha stone inscription of VS 1030. Shiva, who occupies a central place in the sanctum in the form of a linga placed on yoni, is coupled with the representation of Shakti on the surrounding walls inside the sanctum. A four-armed Parvati is performing the penance of the pancagni tapa, also shown visually depicted with fires on either side. She stands erect on an iguana and hence has been labelled as Godhasana Gauri. On either side are two standing and two sitting female attendants.
    Keyword:
    Rajasthan, Temples of India, Temple, Shakhambari Chahamanas, Harshnath Temple, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Sikar, and Architecture
    Creator:
    Temples of India Project Team
    Contributor:
    Anchit Jain
    Owner:
    tushar1.ayyar@jioinstitute.edu.in
    Publisher:
    Jio Institute
    Location:
    Sikar
    Date Uploaded:
    09-05-2024
    Date Modified:
    09-05-2024
    Rights Statement Tesim:
    In Copyright
    Resource Type:
    Image

  • 8. Shesasayi Vishnu

    Description:
    Despite the overall Shaiva mood of the Harsha Temple complex, there were once multiple Vaishnav temples on the hill. This particular image of Shesasayi Vishnu or the reclining Vishnu on the serpent Lord Shesa, was likely once the main cultic image inside a now-lost Vaishnav shrine. Nine planets adorn the top of the image, while Vishnu is served by Lakshmi near his feet. Three ayudhapurusa (personification of his weapons) are placed behind him. The reclining Vishnu is shown in his standard iconography wearing a kirita-mukuta, vanamala and with four arms holding a chakra in his left hand above, mace in his right hand which is also supporting his head, flower in his lower right hand while the left lower hand is broken. Image courtesy: Government Museum, Sikar
    Keyword:
    Rajasthan, Temples of India, Temple, Shakhambari Chahamanas, Harshnath Temple, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Sikar, and Architecture
    Creator:
    Temples of India Project Team
    Contributor:
    Anchit Jain
    Owner:
    tushar1.ayyar@jioinstitute.edu.in
    Publisher:
    Jio Institute
    Location:
    Sikar
    Date Uploaded:
    09-05-2024
    Date Modified:
    09-05-2024
    Rights Statement Tesim:
    In Copyright
    Resource Type:
    Image

  • 9. Harshnath Temple

    Description:
    The temple, now in a state of considerable ruin, 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 originally had kumbha with intricate udgama motifs with a small central box carrying a figure. The jangha, now almost entirely ruined, had dikpalas at the karnas as evidenced by remains in the northeastern corner, The surasundaris were possibly located at the pratirathas and the salilantara-recesses. Inside the sanctum is a shivalinga in active worship, which seems to be contemporaneous with the main shrine. The temple lacks any superstructure which may have collapsed over the centuries since its construction. Stylistically the architecture of the Harshnath Temple follows the Maha-Maru style but also incorporates elements of the emerging Maru-Gurjara style, evident in the base mouldings and other temple features.
    Keyword:
    Sikar, Temples of India, Harshnath Temple, Rajasthan, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), and Shakhambari Chahamanas
    Creator:
    Temples of India Project Team
    Contributor:
    Anchit Jain
    Owner:
    tushar1.ayyar@jioinstitute.edu.in
    Publisher:
    Jio Institute
    Location:
    Sikar
    Date Uploaded:
    09-05-2024
    Date Modified:
    09-05-2024
    Rights Statement Tesim:
    In Copyright
    Resource Type:
    Image

  • 10. Ruins of sub-shrines

    Description:
    Around a dozen of subsidiary shrines were built on Harsha Hill in the 10th and 11th centuries. These were dedicated to various Brahmanical deities, as evidenced by architectural fragments. Unlike a Panchayatan temple or a planned temple complex, the irregular placement and size proportions of these sub-shrines suggest a randomness and unplanned construction over an extended period. They exhibit a variety of pitha usually corresponding to the Maha-Maru styles, but some of them also exhibit Maha-Gurjara features.
    Keyword:
    Rajasthan, Temples of India, Shakhambari Chahamanas, Harshnath Temple, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), and Sikar
    Creator:
    Temples of India Project Team
    Contributor:
    Anchit Jain
    Owner:
    tushar1.ayyar@jioinstitute.edu.in
    Publisher:
    Jio Institute
    Location:
    Sikar
    Date Uploaded:
    09-05-2024
    Date Modified:
    09-05-2024
    Rights Statement Tesim:
    In Copyright
    Resource Type:
    Image