Purneshvari
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- Date:
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Buddhist Sculpture, room 19, case WE
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The Mother Goddess was popularly worshipped under a variety of local names throughout India. During the Pala period (about 760-1142 AD) in eastern India, Purneshvari was venerated by both Buddhists and Hindus.
This rare and beautiful sculpture was found in 1877 during an excavation of a tank at Jaynagar, Monghyr District, Bihar. Here the four-armed goddess is seated on a double-lotus throne with one pendant foot resting on a lotus stem. She is beautifully formed, richly bejewelled and smiles benignly as she supports an infant on her lap. Her upper hands hold rods, one with an elephant emblem, the other a fly-whisk.
Above her a pair of celestial garland-bearers hover in clouds, and a wondrous ‘kirttimukha’ ('face of glory') presides over all from above. Purneshvari is flanked by the Hindu elephant-headed god Ganesha. However, the inscription gives an indication of a Buddhist sectarian affiliation. It offers merit to the ‘siddhas’ (community of tantric masters) and ‘sramanas’ (ascetic monks), as well as to the relatives of the donor, named as ‘Utakva’.
The inscription also names the goddess and the place of installation – the ‘illustrious (city of) Campa’. It dates the sculpture to the 35th year of the reign of a king called Palapala, entitled ‘Lord of Gauda’ (Gaudesvara). This king may have been the last of the Pala rulers, as these regions rapidly succumbed to the Muslim invaders between 1199 and 1201.
Physical description
A central four-armed divinity, Purneshvari, and with other sacred figures, including Ganesha. On the base is a dedicatory inscription by Ghumtesvari, a queen of the country.
Place of Origin
Bihar, India (made)
Date
12th century (made)
Artist/maker
Unknown (production)
Materials and Techniques
Black basalt
Dimensions
Height: 84 cm Incl moulded base mount, Width: 38 cm, Depth: 18 cm
Object history note
The Mother Goddess was popularly worshipped in the Pala kingdom of North East India under a variety of local names and in association with both Buddhism and Hinduism. Here the presence of Ganesha, (at left with the rat, together signifying the 'Lord of Obstacles') suggests association with the Shaivite (Hindu) cult. The inscription dates the sculpture to the 35th regnal year of Palapala, probably the last of the Pala kings, who succumbed to Muslim invasion between 1199 and 1201.
Descriptive line
High Relief of Purneshvari, black basalt, 12th century, Bihar, North East India.
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Translation of the text by D C Sircar, 'Jaynagar Image Inscription of Year 35' in Journal of the Bihar Research Society, Vol XLI, Pt 2, 1955, pp1-11 An iconographic description of the image by Claudine Bautze-Picron, comparing this image with similar images from Bihar, 'Le culte de la Grande Deesse au Bihar meridional du VIIe au XIIe siecle', in Supplemento n.72 agli Annali - Vol 52 (1992), fasc 3, pp 1-58, fig 36. Identification of Palapala and his ruling period discussed by Susan Huntington in 'The Pala Sena Schools of Sculpture' (Brill, Leiden, 1984) (includes illustration). Journal of Bihar and Orissa Research Society, XIV 1928 489pp Annals of Bhadharkar Oriental Research Institute XI 1930, 398pp John Guy: Indian Temple Sculpture, V&A, 2007, pl 183, pg 161 Skelton, R., and Francis, M., (eds). ‘Arts of Bengal : the heritage of Bangladesh and eastern India’. London : Whitechapel Art Gallery, [1979]. ISBN 085488047X.
Guy, John (ed.). ‘L’Escultura en els Temples Indis: L’Art de la Devocio’, Barcelona : Fundacio ‘La Caixa’, 2007. p.147, cat.110 ISBN 9788476649466
Exhibition History
: L’escultura en els temples indis: l’art de la devocio (CaixaForum, Barcelona 27/07/2007-18/11/2007)
Production Note
Monghyr District, Bihar State, North-east India.
Subjects depicted
Hinduism
Categories
Sculpture; Hinduism
Collection code
SSEA
