Stele with Vishnu, His Consorts, His Avatars, and Other Dieties
11th century
Maker Unknown
Asian Art
This icon depicts Vishnu flanked by his consorts, avatars, and other deities. Not all ten of the avatars are present. Striding Varaha the boar is at the top left, with the man-lion Narasimha below him, while the top two figures on the right appear to be Balarama with his plow and Rama with his bow and arrow. The other small figures include the god Brahma (portly and carrying a squarebowled spoon at the bottom left), two Vishnus, and another, unidentified deity. How to interpret this mix of avatars, additional Vishnu images, and Brahma is unclear.
- Maker/Artist
- Maker Unknown
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Formatted Medium
- Schist
- Medium
- schist
- Locations
- Possible place made: Bangladesh, India, Possible place made: Eastern region, West Bengal, India
- Period
- Pala Period
- Dimensions
- 48 x 20 3/4 x 5 in., 192 lb. (121.9 x 52.7 x 12.7 cm, 87.09kg)
- Departments
- Asian Art
- Accession Number
- 1991.244
- Credit Line
- Gift of Dr. David R. Nalin
- Exhibitions
- Vishnu: Hinduism's Blue-Skinned Savior
- Rights Statement
- Creative Commons-BY
- Museum Location
- Asian Galleries, Arts of South Asia, 2nd floor
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