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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. Ganesha, Surya and Chandra

    Description:
    The trio of Ganesha, Surya, and Chandra is one of the several loose sculptures that were affixed on the later structures at the site. The three figures may have once been part of a larger panel depicting the nine heavenly bodies or the navagraha. While the dancing Ganesha is four-armed, the images of Surya and Chandra have only two, broken in both cases. The erect uplift posture or the samabhanga of Surya contrasts with the dynamic posture of Ganesha and the tribhanga pose of Chandra. The halos of the three figures are quite similar to the Surya figure of Image 18. Both Surya and Chandra have broken heads but can be identified through the boots of the former image and the depiction of a crescent behind the neck of the latter.
    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
    Date Uploaded:
    09-05-2024
    Date Modified:
    09-05-2024
    Rights Statement Tesim:
    In Copyright
    Resource Type:
    Image

  • 6. Vinayaki

    Description:
    This is a rare image of Vinayaki, the feminine aspect (consort in some traditions) of Vinayaka or Ganesha. It is one of the several images, once contained in the lost temples of the hill, which were later affixed on the walls of the Bhairon shrine complex. Only a partial image is visible as the lower portion was subsumed by the stairways built next to it. Locals wrongly identify this image as Ardhanarishvara-Ganesha, which they believe to be a fusion of Shiva, Shakti and Ganesha. She is holding a cup in one of her hands, an attribute found in many of the Shaiva and Shakta images of the site and associated with tantric tradition. She is likely a tantric Shakti and suggests a syncretic fusion of the Ganapatya and Shakta traditions.
    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
    Date Uploaded:
    09-05-2024
    Date Modified:
    09-05-2024
    Rights Statement Tesim:
    In Copyright
    Resource Type:
    Image

  • 7. 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

  • 8. 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

  • 9. 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. She is holding a cup in her left hand, often associated in tantric traditions with the cup containing the symbolic nectar of spiritual bliss attained after the completion of tantric sadhana. The two-armed yogini is seated in the lalitasana pose. She holds a mala in her right hand and a cup in her left hand. Her head is lost. Image courtesy: Government Museum, Sikar
    Keyword:
    Sikar, Architecture, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Shakhambari Chahamanas, Rajasthan, Temple, Temples of India, and Harshnath Temple
    Creator:
    Temples of India Project Team
    Contributor:
    Anchit Jain
    Owner:
    tushar1.ayyar@jioinstitute.edu.in
    Publisher:
    Jio Institute
    Date Uploaded:
    09-05-2024
    Date Modified:
    09-05-2024
    Rights Statement Tesim:
    In Copyright
    Resource Type:
    Image

  • 10. Surya

    Description:
    This majestic image of Surya must have once been placed inside the sanctum of a lost Surya shrine. Coupled with multiple other Surya images at the shrine (Surya, Chhaya, etc.), it suggests the maturity of Surya tradition at the hill, which was present at the hill at least from the eight century - much before the emergence of Harshadeva-Shiva as the royal shrine at the hill. He is holding two fully bloomed lotuses in each hand. He is flanked on either side by his companions, Danda and Pingala, immediately near his legs, and the pair of horse-faced Ashvin brothers, at the back. On the above register is an elegant pair of bow holders about to unleash an arrow. Surya is wearing a kirita-mukuta and the halo in the form of a fully bloomed lotus appropriately suits the radiant glow of the majestic Sun God. Image courtesy: Akbari Fort and Museum, Ajmer
    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
    Date Uploaded:
    09-05-2024
    Date Modified:
    09-05-2024
    Rights Statement Tesim:
    In Copyright
    Resource Type:
    Image