Page 15 - Stone and Bronze, Indian art of the Chola Dynasty, Metropolitan Museum, NYC

eighth century), Sambandar (c. 730), and Sundarar Heliodorus, shows that by the late second century B.C.
(early ninth century). The present temple is, by archi- his cult-associated with the sun bird Garuda-was
tectural and sculptural details, closely related to other embraced by the ruling classes and even the foreigners.
temples of the late ninth (Nagesvara, Kumbakonam, This Bhagavata cult absorbed the concepts of the
and Koranganatha, Srinivasanallur) and early tenth Vedic sun god Vishnu and of the cosmic god Narayana,
(Brahmapurisvara, Pullamangai) centuries. who appears in late Vedic verses and in the Brahmanas.
All this confirms the above attribution of the three- To this was fused-perhaps somewhat later-the cult
dimensional images to the period of about 875 to 925 of Krishna, itself a merger of several traditions: tragic
or perhaps even somewhat earlier. I believe that we hero, amorous cowherd, and divine child. Of these
can safely date the Brahma in The Metropolitan Mu- aspects, the first may be of Near Eastern or European
seum of Art to the late ninth century. The magnificent origin; the second probably was developed by the Dra-
image of Nisumbhasudani in the eastern suburb of vidian tribes of the peninsula; the third perhaps was
Tanjavur,28 which was dedicated by the first Chola due to Christian inspiration. These three traditions
king after his conquest of the area (c. 850), is ample and some other cults were fused-often in the form of
proof that the sculptors of the period were able to create incarnations (avatars) of Vishnu--and became the
images carved in the round of such perfection and Vaishnava religion, prominent from the early Gupta
beauty. period.
The theological development of Vishnu as the uni-
versal god continued. His incarnations were gradually
formalized as ten, although some texts enumerate as
II. VISHNU many as twenty-two or thirty-nine, mainly seers and
sages. However, Krishna alone is considered as a
Vishnu is one of the two great gods of Hinduism- total incarnation. The ninth-the last historical avatar
the other being Siva. His manifold aspects and mani- -is the Buddha, symbolizing the reabsorption of
festations are due to the fact that he is, historically Buddhism into Hinduism, from which it had sprung.
the
a
speaking, composite deity, as indeed are all the others. In the Mahabharata, as well as in the Vayu-Purana,
His earliest component is a minor solar deity who occurs Buddha is not yet listed. According to most of the
in the Rig Veda, he who with three strides traversed Puranic texts, incidentally, Lord Vishnu incarnated
the entire universe (Trivikrama)--a legend referring himself as the great teacher in order to delude the
to the movement of the sun. Subsequently, in the late asuras, or titans, who threatened the supremacy of the
Vedic period of the Brahmanas, Vishnu was associated gods, and the wicked. Kalki, the tenth avatar, riding
a
with sacrifice and thus already more important. By the a white horse and brandishing flaming sword, is yet
age of the epics and Puranas he had become the most to appear in the twilight of this age of strife, "when all
powerful member of the later Brahmanical Trinity- kings will be thieves."
a concept evolved in Gupta times. A myth prophesying the advent of a foreign avatar
His rise to this importance resulted from his identi- is today, in popular Hindu thought, sometimes quoted
fication with Vasudeva. Like the Buddha and the in order to claim Christ as an avatar of Vishnu. At any
Jaina savior Mahavira, Vasudeva was a princely mem- rate, there may be new incarnations in a future age,
ber of the warrior (kshatriya) caste and was associated after the destruction and re-creation of the world.
with ancient religious reform. He too was deified after Parallel to the incarnations of Vishnu, the concept of
his death and soon widely worshiped by the Bhaga- his emanations was developed. From the four basic
vata sect as they called themselves. The famous column emanations-Vasudeva with his brother, son, and
at Besnagar in central India, erected by the Greek grandson, really four aspects of Vasudeva-descend
two groups of twelve subemanations. These twenty-
four manifestations or aspects of the god, formalized
at the end of the Gupta period, overlap with the incar-
28. P. R. Srinivasan, "Important Works," fig. 2; Balasubrah-
manyam, Early Chola Art, fig. 8. nations, as both include the Man-Lion (Narasimha),

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