Odisha - Part 13 : Treasures of the Odisha State Museum Archaeological Gallery

The Odisha State Museum was first established in 1932, and moved to its present premises in 1960. While it has many sections, the main attraction for me was the Archaeological Gallery. The gallery has Hindu, Buddhist and Jaina sculptures from all over Odisha, and is a haven for someone who loves sculptures and iconography. Sharing some of the sculptures which I found most interesting.

Welcoming us into the gallery is this beautiful Ganga. She is easily identifiable, standing over a makara, with an attendant holding an umbrella over her. This sculpture is from Bhubaneshwar, and dated to the 9^th century CE.

This Tara, from Mangalpur (Puri), dated to the 10^th century, has a lovely smile on her face. She sits on a lotus, and on the arch surrounding her are 4 Buddhas. Her headdress is elaborate, and typical of the Odisha style. Below her are shown devotees offering worship to her. There is an altar at the centre, on which are placed some items, and what I found most interesting, were the two lamps on the side of the altar, which resemble the South-Indian kuttu vilakku.

There are quite a lot of sculptures of Avalokiteshwara in the museum, and this one is from Jajpur, dated to the 12^th century. He is Padmapani Avalokiteshwara, since he holds a lotus in one hand. But what makes this sculpture interesting is the second lotus flower. At first glance, I wondered if there was a connection to Surya, because of the positioning of the two lotuses. But a closer look reveals that the second lotus isn’t held in his hand, it is simply just there. Why is it there? We don’t really know. But we can speculate. Maybe the sculptor was so familiar with the form of Surya, that he decided to add in the second flower, but took care to not place it in his hand, so as not to disturb the iconography? The rest of the sculpture is also interesting. The arch around him is clearly defined, marking it out as a shrine. Around the arch are four Buddhas, all in similar shrines. All around them are carvings, which appear to be of mountains and animals interspersed between them. They probably represent cave shrines, scattered over the mountains?

This Padmapani Avalokiteshwara, from Cuttack, 11^th century, is similar. However, the cave-like shrine is well defined here. In this sculpture, the carvings around the shrine make it clear that the cave is located within a forest… there are animals everywhere. Above are 5 Buddhas, probably the Dhyani Buddhas. Here, he holds a single lotus. Note that while he sits on the lotus, even the foot hanging down is placed on a lotus. The same is seen in the earlier image, though it is less clear.

Among the sculptures of Vishnu in the museum, very few are of Narasimha. This one, from 12^th century Jajpur, shows him killing Hiranyakashipu. While his hands are broken, he still appears ferocious, and there is a sense of dynamism in his posture, in the way his left leg is extended forward to hold Hiranyakashipu in his lap. Note that, like most sculptures in Odisha, he too stands on a lotus pedestal.

There are quite a few Varahas in the museum, but this one from Jajpur (12^th century) is one of my favourites. He is facing his left, and holds the conch and the discus in two of his hands. On his extended left elbow, he holds Bhudevi, Mother Earth, whom he has just rescued from the depths of the ocean. But what fascinates me about this sculpture is that with his other hand, he holds on to the wrist of another woman, probably Sridevi or Lakshmi, his other consort.

This Varaha, from Khiching, dated to the 10^th century, is gorgeous in a different way. He is more muscular, the way he holds his hands (with the palms joined together like we used to do during elocutions at school) is not something I have seen before. Further, there is a lot of attention paid to his clothes. We can see the patterns on his dhoti, and there is a cloth wrapped around his chest as well. Here too he holds a conch and a discus, and Bhudevi sits on his left elbow. But here, he stands on a Naga, while the female Naga (or Nagi), has her hands joined together in supplication.

This image of Vishnu, as Krishna is another interesting one. It was found in Jajpur, and dates to the 12^th century. Krishna is seen in his usual form, his legs crossed, and hands holding a flute (which is now missing), as well as a conch and discus. What I loved about this sculpture are the Dashavatars carved around the main figure… The Dashavatars are usually seen carved around the central sculpture, as they are, here. The difference is that unlike most sculptures, we have to go searching for them amidst all the carvings. Matsya, Kurma and Varaha are carved into the base, amidst the cows, Narasimha is on the left pillar; Vamana, Parasurama, Rama and Krishna are above him; Buddha is on the top right, and Kalki is on the right pillar.

There is something about this figure of Krishna overpowering the snake Kaliya. I love the details, like the tree on the side which Krishna holds on to, the figure standing by, which is probably Balarama, the 3 figures of the snakes – the male snake which is Kaliya, and the two female ones, his wives, Krishna admonishing Kaliya with his finger pointed at him, and the sense of water given by the water currents carved under the snakes…. Just one simple sculpture, so much to notice!

The next set of sculptures were found together at Jajpur, and date to the 8^th century. The first is Chamunda… She is stunning in a macabre way, epitomizing the idea of Bibhatsa rasa. Her eyes are just sockets, her mouth is open in a grimace, her cheeks are hollow, her hair appears like a flame, held together by another skull, her breasts are sagging, her ribcage is visible, and we can even see the veins in her hands and legs. She wears a garland of skulls, and holds a skull in her hand. She is sitting on a corpse, and below her are 3 jackals – one is feasting on a hand, probably of the corpse, which has fallen off; another is reaching up to bite at another part of the corpse, and the third is being warded away by an emaciated figure. On the left, a devotee is looking up to her. Among all the Chamundas I have seen over the years, she stands out. I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

The next sculpture in this set is Vaishnavi, identified by the conch and discus she holds in her hands. She wears a huge crown, and also holds a child on her lap.

The third sculpture in this series is Aindri or Indrani, identified only by the Vajra she holds in her right hand.

The fourth and final sculpture in this set is Varahi. She is easily identified by her boar-face. She holds a fish in one hand, a cup in another, and has a child on her lap. I love how her hair fans out around her head, in curls. She has a bull below her.

These 4 sculptures are obviously part of a set, a group of Saptamatrikas. We can easily see this because of common elements in the design, such as the trees below the pedestal and the uniformity of the iconographic details. What fascinated me was their size. They are all quite big – around 4ft in height, by my estimate. They seem to be sculptures carved to fit into a niche, and I couldn’t help but wonder about the temple they were made for. If these sculptures are so beautiful, you can almost imagine how much more beautiful that temple would have been.

Among the sculptures of Shiva, this one of Natesha is especially beautiful. Shiva has this blissful expression on his face. He is dancing, not in anger, but in bliss. Here he is purely a dancer – there is no sign of the snake, or his weapons. All his four arms are engaged in the dance. One hand lovingly caresses Parvati, seated on his left. On his right is Ganesha, also dancing. Behind him is his bull, Nandi, and there is someone behind Nandi, probably one of the ganas, holding his tail! This sculpture has been dated to the 13^th century.

This sculpture of Uma Maheshwara is also interesting. Shiva and Parvati here are not seated in their typical pose. Shiva has his legs crossed, one over the other, and one of his hands is on Parvati’s leg, while Parvati sits with one leg folded and the other bent, with her hands resting on Shiva’s shoulder intimately. Both of them are seated on Nandi. While the sculpture is quite damaged, one can still see details of a pattern on the cloth covering Parvati’s breasts, and while Shiva is slightly turned to the side, one can still see his erect phallus, which helps date this sculpture to the 9^th century. This sculpture is from the Bhabanishankar temple in Bhubaneshwar.

There are a number of sculptures of Skanda / Kartikeya, from various time periods. Each has its own style. This one, from the 13^th century, from Ramchandrapur, shows him with the peacock and snake. While he is often seen with the peacock and rooster, the snake is less often seen in his iconography, especially outside the south, so this is interesting.

By far, the most interesting and unique sculpture seen in this museum is this one, labelled as ‘a scene from Kumarasambhavam’, dating to the 13^th century, from Bhubaneshwar.

The Kumarasambhavam is one of the works of Kalidasa, describing the birth of Kumara, or Skanda. While the label is probably correct, what it does not mention, is that the scene actually depicts the moment of the birth of Skanda. As the story goes, Shiva is engaged in tapas, when the gods come to him, pleading with him to stop meditating and have a child, so that they can be rid of the demons. Shiva opens his third eye, and sparks of fire are emitted, which are caught by Agni, and taken to the lake of reeds, where they turn into 6 babies. Parvati collects the 6 babies, and they turn into one, with 6 faces – the deity we know as Kartikeya or Skanda. This particular scene shows the same scene without the metaphor of sparks…. Shiva’s seed emerges from his erect phallus, and is collected by Agni, identified by the flames around him. I imagine this panel would have been part of a larger one, telling the story of the birth of Skanda. Just imagine how beautiful that entire panel would have been!

The next image I wish to show you today is also unique, one I had never come across before. It was labelled ‘Astika Jaratkaru’, and dated to 8^th century, found at Bhubaneshwar.

According to the Mahabharata, Astika was the son of Manasa and Jaratkaru. Manasa was the sister of Vasuki, the king of the Nagas, and the sage Jaratkaru was a powerful sage, who had renounced food, water, and survived only on air. He married Manasa to rid the snakes of their curse (they were cursed by their mother Kadru, to be burnt at the sacrifice of Janamejaya), through the birth of their son, Astika, who was prophesized to stop the yajna and save the snakes from extinction. The partially damaged sculpture however, was intriguing. It showed a man in a woman’s lap, and a snake below. Some further reading revealed that the woman was Manasa, the naga princess. The man in her lap was her husband, Jaratkaru, sleeping. The story goes that he was sleeping in her lap, and it was time for the evening prayers. Manasa was faced with a choice – either she could wake her husband and incur his wrath, or she could let him sleep, and let him bear the consequences of missing his daily prayers. She chose to wake him, by whispering in his ear. He awoke, and incensed, decided to leave her. Their son Astika was born after Jaratkaru left, and eventually, in time, fulfilled the prophecy by stopping Janamejaya’s sacrifice.

The museum has a beautiful set of Dikpalas, from 14^th century Bhubaneshwar, but they are placed in a glass case, and my photos didn’t turn out too well. Top row: (l to r) : Yama, Vayu, Varuna, Nritti, Bottom row (l to r): Agni, Indra, Kubera, Isana.

Other than these, there are also general sculptures depicting random events that are interesting too, such as this one, showing a boat transporting an elephant! The first boat shows a number of people in one boat, while the second boat has an elephant. But what I find fascinating are the creatures in the sea – a fish, a crocodile, and even what appears to be an otter! This sculpture is from Bhubaneshwar and is dated to the 11^th century CE.

This has been a long post, but by no means a complete one. This gallery holds many more sculptures, each one telling us a little more about the incredible heritage of this region. If you are ever in Bhubaneshwar, don’t miss visiting this museum.