Emergence of Viṣṇu and Śiva Images in India: Numismatic and Sculptural Evidence
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Spread & significance of Harappa Script hieroglyphs and profiles of metalworkers of Bharata on Bharhut and Sanchi friezes. It is demonstrated by systematic data ininining that all the hieroglyphs/hypertexts on ancient coins of Bharata are knowledge discovery of the tradition of Harappa Script cipher to render in rebus Meluhha, metalwork catalogues, documing the contributions of artisans/seafaring merchants to Bronze Age Revolution. वृष्णि is a term in Rigveda. A Vrishni silver coin from Alexander Cunningham's Coins of Ancient India: From the Earliest Times Down to the Seventh Century (1891) (loc.cit., Lahiri, Bela (1974). Indigenous States of Northern India (Circa 200 B.C.E to 320 C.E.), Calcutta: University of Calcutta, pp.242 3). वृष्णि [p= 1013,2] वृष्ण्/इ or व्/ऋष्णि, mfn. manly , strong , powerful , mighty RV.m. a ram VS. TS. S3Br.m. a bull L.m. a ray of light L.m. N. of शिव MBh.m. of विष्णु-कृष्ण L.m.of इन्द्र L.m. of अग्नि L.m. pl. N. of a tribe or family (from which कृष्ण is descended , = यादव or माधव ; often mentioned together with the अन्धकs) MBh. Hariv. &cn. N. of a सामन् A1rshBr. (Monier-Williams) An identical ancient silver coin (perhaps produced from the same ancient mint) of Vrishni janapada ca. 10 CE with kharoṣṭhī, Brahmi inscriptions and Harappa Script hieroglyphs was sold in an auction in Ahmedabad (August 2016) for Rs. 27 lakhs. In fact, the treasure is priceless and defines the heritage of Bhāratam Janam, 'metalcaster folk' dating back to the 7th millennium of Vedic culture. It signifies a spoked wheel which is the centre-piece of Bharat's national flag. I suggest that the successful bidder in Ahmedabad auction should volunteer to donate it to the National Museum, Janpath, New Delhi as a treasure to be cherished by the present and future generations of Bhāratam Janam. It is a composite animal with ligatured elephant-tiger pictorial motifs. It signifies a skambha topped by a pair of fish-fins (khambhaṛā 'fish-fin' rebus: kammaṭa 'mint'.). It is a tiger (kola 'tiger' rebus: kol 'blacksmith'). It is an elephant (karba, ibha 'elephant' rebus: karba, ib 'iron' ibbo 'merchant'). It is a yupa with caṣāla signifying a Soma samsthā Yāga. It is a cakra, a vajra in Vedic tradition (eraka 'nave of wheel' rebus: erako 'moltencast' eraka, arka 'copper, gold'). arā 'spokes' rebus: āra 'brass' kund opening in the nave or hub of a wheel to admit the axle (Santali) Rebus: kunda 'turner' kundār turner (A.) It is a professional calling card of a metalcaster, e.g. dhokra kamar who is a śilpi, artificer of cire perdue bronze and metal alloy pratimā. सांगड sāṅgaḍa 'joined animal', rebus: sangaDa ‘lathe’ sanghaṭṭana ‘bracelet’ rebus 1: .sanghāṭa ‘raft’ sAngaDa ‘catamaran, double-canoe’rebusčaṇṇāḍam (Tu. ജംഗാല, Port. Jangada). Ferryboat, junction of 2 boats, also rafts. 2 jangaḍia 'military guard accompanying treasure into the treasury' ചങ്ങാതം čaṇṇāδam (Tdbh.; സംഘാതം) 1. Convoy, guard; responsible Nāyar guide through foreign territories. rebus 3: जाकड़ ja:kaṛ जांगड़ jāngāḍ‘entrustment note’ जखडणें tying up (as a beast to a stake) rebus 4: sanghāṭa ‘accumulation, collection’ rebus 5. sangaDa ‘portable furnace, brazier’ rebus 6: sanghAta ‘adamantine glue‘ rebus 7: sangara ‘fortification’ rebus 8: sangara ‘proclamation’ 9: samgraha, samgaha 'arranger, manager'. On the VRSNi coin, tiger and elephant are joined to create a composite hyperext. This is Harappa Script orthographic cipher. The orthographic style of creating 'composite animals' is also evident from the following examples of artifacts: Terracotta. Tiger, bovine, elephant, Nausharo NS 92.02.70.04 h. 6.76 cm; w. 4.42; l. 6.97 cm. Centre for Archaeological Research Indus Balochistan, Musée Guimet, Paris. harappa.com "Slide 88. Three objects (harappa.com) Three terra cotta objects that combine human and animal features. These objects may have been used to tell stories in puppet shows or in ritual performances. On the left is a seated animal figurine with female head. The manner of sitting suggests that this may be a feline, and a hole in the base indicates that it would have been raised on a stick as a standard or puppet. The head is identical to those seen on female figurines with a fan shaped headdress and two cup shaped side pieces. The choker with pendant beads is also common on female figurines. Material: terra cotta Dimensions: 7.1 cm height, 4.8 cm length, 3.5 cm width Harappa, 2384 Harappa Museum, HM 2082 Vats 1940: 300, pl. LXXVII, 67 In the center is miniature mask of horned deity with human face and bared teeth of a tiger. A large mustache or divided upper lip frames the canines, and a flaring beard adds to the effect of rage. The eyes are defined as raised lumps that may have originally been painted. Short feline ears contrast with two short horns similar to a bull rather than the curving water buffalo horns. Two holes on either side allow the mask to be attached to a puppet or worn as an amulet. Material: terra cotta Dimensions: 5.24 height, 4.86 width Harappa Harappa Museum, H93-2093 Meadow and Kenoyer, 1994 On the right is feline figurine with male human face. The ears, eyes and mouth are filled with black pigment and traces of black are visible on the flaring beard that is now broken. The accentuated almond shaped eyes and wide mouth are characteristic of the bearded horned deity figurines found at Harappa and Mohenjo-daro (no. 122, 123). This figurine was found in a sump pit filled with discarded goblets, animal and female figurines and garbage. It dates to the final phase of the Harappan occupation, around 2000 B. C. Harappa, Lot 5063-1 Harappa Museum, H94-2311 Material: terra cotta Dimensions: 5.5 cm height, 12.4 cm length, 4.3 cm width http://www.harappa.com/indus/88.html masks/amulets Slide72. Two composite anthropomorphic / animal figurines from Harappa. Whether or not the attachable water buffalo horns were used in magic or other rituals, unusual and composite animals and anthropomorphic/animal beings were clearly a part of Indus ideology. The ubiquitous "unicorn" (most commonly found on seals, but also represented in figurines), composite animals and animals with multiple heads, and composite anthropomorphic/animal figurines such as the seated quadruped figurines with female faces, headdresses and tails offer tantalizing glimpses into a rich ideology, one that may have been steeped in mythology, magic, and/or ritual transformation. Approximate dimensions (W x H(L) x D) of the larger figurine: 3.5 x 7.1 x 4.8 cm. (Photograph by Richard H. Meadow) See: http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2015/01/multiplex-as-metaphor-ligatures-on.html The pellet border is composed of: goṭā 'seed', round pebble, stone' rebus: goṭā ''laterite, ferrite ore' 'gold braid' खोट [ khōṭa ] f A mass of metal (unwrought or of old metal melted down). The railing for the pillar is Vedi, sacred fire-altar for Soma samsthā Yāga. There is evidence dated to ca. 2500 BCE for the performance of such a yajna in Binjor (4MSR) on the banks of Vedic River Sarasvati. The fire-altar yielded an octagonal pillar, which is detailed in ancient Vedic texts as a proclamation of Soma samsthā Yāga. Three hour-glass shaped vajra-s are shown in a cartouche below the yupa on the coin. Normally Vajrapani is shown such a vajra which has octagonal edges. kolom 'three' rebus: kolimi, kole.l 'smithy, forge' kole.l 'temple' It is a record of the performance of a Soma samsthā Yāga. It is Vrishni Janapada coin of ca. 10 CE. Cakra, pavi in Vedic tradition is also a vajra. Rudra is vajrabāhu 'vajra weapon wielder'; said also of Agni and Indra. ... वज्र [p=913,1] mn. " the hard or mighty one " , a thunderbolt (esp. that of इन्द्र , said to have been formed out of the bones of the ऋषि दधीच or दधीचि [q.v.] , and shaped like a circular discus , or in later times regarded as having the form of two transverse bolts crossing each other thus x ; sometimes also applied to similar weapons used by various gods or superhuman beings , or to any mythical weapon destructive of spells or charms , also to मन्यु , " wrath "RV. or [with अपाम्] to a jet of water AV. &c ; also applied to a thunderbolt in general or to the lightning evolved from the centrifugal energy of the circular thunderbolt of इन्द्र when launched at a foe ; in Northern Buddhist countries it is shaped like a dumb-bell and called Dorje ; » MWB. 201 ; 322 &c ) RV. &c; a diamond (thought to be as hard as the thunderbolt or of the same substance with it) , Shad2vBr. Mn. MBh. &c; m. a kind of column or pillar VarBr2S.; m. a kind of hard mortar or cement (कल्क) VarBr2S. (cf. -लेप); n. a kind of hard iron or steel L. Vrishni Tribal Silver Coin Realises A Whopping Rs. 27-Lakhs in Ahmedabad Auction 10 Aug 2016 Wed A beautiful silver drachm issued by the Republic of Vrishni People between 10 and 40 CE was auctioned off by Classical Numismatic Gallery at the Coin and Currency Fair that was held between August 5th and 7th at Ahmedabad. The obverse of this rare silver coin bears a standard topped by a nandipada finial with an elephant’s head and the forepart of a leaping lion below it in an ornamental railing. The Brahmi legend reads “(Vr)shni Rajana Ganasya Tratarasya”. The reverse bears an ornate 14-spoked wheel with a scalloped outer rim along with the legend in Kharoshthi which reads “Vrshni Rajana Ganasa (Trata)...” The coin is of a Very Fine grade and is Exceedingly Rare. While Classical Numismatic Gallery estimated the price between Rs. 1 Lakh and Rs. 1.5 Lakh, the final price realised in the auction was a jaw-dropping Rs. 27 Lakhs!
Journal Of Indian History and Culture( Under UGC-Care, 0
The present discourse embodies an account of the hitherto unpublished sculptures of the Brahmanical deity Viṣṇu found predominantly in the village Kherua, Mouza Kherua, Katwa Sub-division, Mangalkot Thana, Purba Bardhaman District, West Bengal (Fig. 1). In the month of April 2022, it was reported in a daily that two images had been salvaged from the river Ajay by a fisherman. On my personal inquiry, I was invited to visit the place for investigating the images. Of the two sculptures salvaged, one was of God Viṣṇu and the other was of Sūrya. Both the images are presently kept in a temple in the same village named Puratan (Old) Kherua. The villagers there also informed me about few other Viṣṇu images that are kept in a temple of Notun (New) Kherua. This paper therefore is an attempt to make a proper iconological study of the Viṣṇu images from the village Kherua with an emphasis on the motifs adorning the back-slab which represent and predominantly exhibit the elements of nature.
Divinity and Motifs on Early Indian Coins
2019
Coins as a symbol of ideas and ideals, working behind the mind of the rulers at different periods, open up a most comprehensive and interesting study. Although references to coins occur in the early Indian Literature, punch-marked coins are found the earliest ones spread over a large area 2 from Pakistan in the northwest to Tamilnadu (India) in the south; from Taxila (Pakistan) in the west to Chandraketugarh (India) in the east. These comprise both silver and copper coins; in the first group, bent bar coins from Taxila are also included. Their chronology is not definite, however, their beginning may be assigned to the sixth-fifth century BC.
Ancient Indian coins & symbolism And The Roots of Indian culture
Pushpa Prakshan, 2021
Before the Buddhist era, unfortunately, no written records are available to throw light on the socio-political history of ancient India. Purana texts are loaded with myths and heavy corruption, making them mostly unreliable. The Vedic religious texts, though boast of their religious supremacy, the available physical proofs speak otherwise. There is a misconception that there ever was the Vedic Age, but no proof has surfaced so far to substantiate this claim. Vedic texts claim many things drawing an imaginary timeline of the Vedas being first followed by Brahmanas, Upanishads, Smriti, Purana era, etc. Linguistics also heavily depends on this imaginary timeline and attempts to draw a picture that is far from the truth. But what is the fact?
On the Gāndhāra Bodhisatta terracotta, the ornamented hairstyle emergs out of the mouth of a lion, like a garland. dama, 'garland' held for worship is related to rebus to dhāū, dhāv 'a partic. soft red stone ʼ (whence dhā̆vaḍ m. ʻ a caste of iron -- smelters ʼ, dhāvḍī ʻ composed of or relating to ironʼ. The lion is an Indus Script hypertext: arya 'lion' (Akkadian) rebus: āra 'brass'. Thus, the sculptural metaphor is the wealth-creation by a smelter of copper, brass and red ferrite ores. http://www.chinabuddhismencyclopedia.com/en/index.php?title=File:DSC00494.JPG Gāndhāra. Terracotta. Bodhisattva, enlightened being Dated: ~4th century CE Note the lion disgorging Jewellery(Mala), a motif also seen in Vishnu sculptures. "The head of a bodhisattva from Gāndhāra displays the Greco-Roman features typically associated with this early cosmopolitan culture of what is today northwest Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan. The striking facial features and wavy locks were modeled in clay, whilst the lion mask spewing strings of pearls on the headgear and earrings appear to have been made in a mold (Chong, Alan. 2013. “Buddhist Figural Sculpture.” In Devotion and Desire: Cross-Cultural Art in Asia: New Acquisitions of the Asian Civilisations Museum, 17. Singapore). The urna (tuft of hair) at the center of the forehead is a subtle indentation, unlike the protrusion more often found on stone images of this time." https://www.buddhistdoor.net/features/the-new-ancient-religions-gallery-at-the-asian-civilisations-museum-singapore Pair of Lions with Attendant. Date: 3rd-5th century; Culture: Pakistan Asokan Pillar with Lion Capital (c.250 BCE) Vaishali, Bihar, India. Rampurva. Lion capital. Decorated with hamsa, geese. Rampurva.Bihar. Rampurva. Bull capital Bihar Ancient Near East: Traditions of smelters, metallurgists validate the Bronze Age Linguistic Doctrine. http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2013/06/asur-metallurgists.html Bull capital on Asoka pillar, Rampurva. This was set atop the pillar using an inscribed copper bolt with Indus Writing. Altar, Pyrenees (South of France). I Century BC (The altar shows a svastika and a fish – both are Sarasvati hieroglyphs of Indus writing.) In the context of metallurgists' or stone work, the glyphs read rebus: ayo 'fish' Rebus: ayo 'metal' (Gujarati) satthiya 'svastika glyph' Rebus satthiya, jasta 'zinc' (Kashmiri. Kannada); sattva 'zinc' (Prakrit) Location Rampurwa, Champaran, Bihar, India Date Upto 3rd century BC ca 299-200 BCE Description Plaster of Paris Stucco, 200 x 135 cm Status Architectural fragment Presently located at: Calcutta, Indian Museum View Overview Image Identification Accession No 36104 Negative No 249.87 American Institute of Indian Studies, Varanasi Notes American Institute of Indian Studies, Varanasi "According to Cunningham, who wrote about the pillars says, that he excavated the surrounding of the site and disconnected its broken Capital from the shaft. The Capital was fastened to the shaft by a solid barrel shaped bolt of pure copper, measuring two and a half feet long and 5-5/16 inches in diameter at the centre and tapered slightly towards the ends where its circumference was 3-5/8 inches. The bolt projected exactly half its length or 1-1/4 inches from the shaft, and the projecting portion received the Capital; both ends were beautifully fitted into the stone, thus dispensing with any cement substance to firmly hold it together. The copper bolt was an exquisite piece of work, created into shape apparently with a hammer. The bolt is now kept in the Indian Museum, Kolkata and weighs 79 ½ lbs." Ref: Cunningham, ASI, XVI, pp.110-117; Carlleyle, CASI, XXII, pp.51-57; An. Rep., ASI, 1902-3, pp.38-40; 1907-8, pp.181-88; An Rep., ASI, E.C. 1906-7, p.16; 1912-13, p.36; BDG, Champaran, pp. 172-74. http://bhpromo.org.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=47&Itemid=54 The bolt is apparently forged into form by hammer after being cast. This is confirmed by the inscription on the bolt written in Indus writing. The lexeme is: koṭe ‘forging (metal)(Munda) The bronze bolt discovered in the Rampurva bull capital pillar should also have been used on the Rampurva lion capital pillar. Background narrative, dawn of Bronze Age Linga Purana describes Asura as linga worshippers. (LXXXI, 24-37.) Could the linga pillars found in Dholavira be an attestation of this worship? ‘The Vedic struggle’, Banerji-Sastri concludes, ‘drove the Asura from the Indus Valley; the epic conflict routed them in the Madhyadesa and the subsequent readjustment lost them the Gangetic Valley and pushed them southwards. The Nagas were the spearhead and backbone of the Asura people in India. Daityas, Danavas, Rakshasas, Kalakanyas, Kaleyyas, Nivatakavachas, Paulomas, etc., are offshoots and families. With the downfall of the Nagas ended organized Asura supremacy in India. And the remnants of Nagas who once ruled Gosringa in Khotan, had to seek shelter in places still bearing their name, e.g. Nagpur, Chota Nagpur, and are today completely absorbed in the Dasa aborigines haunting woods, mountain fastnesses, and desolate regions, of the jungles of Assam, of Chota Nagpur and the Vindhya range.’ (A. Banerji-Sastri, ‘The Asuras in Indo-Iranian Literature, JBORS, Vol. XII, pp. 110 ff.) This interpretation of the narrative is challenged by Satish Chandra Roy. (SC Roy, ‘The Asuras: Ancient and Modern’, JBORS, Vol. XII, pp. 147 ff.) His view was that we have here a reflection of the worldwide contest between the denizens of the Stone Age and the new metal-working people, who invaded and disturbed it. He referred to a ‘widespread tradition among the Mundas and several other aboriginal tribes of Chota Nagpur of the previous occupation of the country by a metal-using people called the Asuras who are said to have been routed by the Mundas with the help of their deity Sing-bonga. The iron-smelting activities of the Asura, tradition says, greatly disturbed the even tenor of existence of the Munda and other deities who were as yet innocent of the use and manufacture of metals.’ This monograph seeks to dethrone the ruling linguistic paradigm of 'Aryan invasion' as a Linguistic doctrine and replaces this doctrine with Bronze Aze Linguistic Doctrine validating Indian sprachbund as a reality of ancient times. As we attempt to clear the mists of history and see through the dominant idiom which explains a language-speech-area described as a language union (for e.g. Indian sprachbund), many lexemes of languages of the sprachbund demonstrate the essential features of the language union seen in many metalware/metallurgical terms, together with about 8000 cognate semantic clusters ofIndian Lexicon -- a compendium of Munda, Dravidian and Indo-Aryan lexemes. The demonstration is a process involving rebus readings of hieroglhyphs of Indus Writing, a process which yields the core semantic features of Meluhha (mleccha), the lingua franca of the sprachbund.
Sculptural Parallels in the Coinage of Vijayanagar
2014
The coinage of Vijayanagar and the later successor state of Mysore is relatively unique among Indian coin series in that a number of coin types have close sculptural parallels. In this brief paper, I will point out a few of these, using two specific cases, reliefs of Hanumān and the gold varāhas of Hari Hara I and Bukka I, and the statue of Bālakṛṣṇa from the Kṛṣṇa Temple in Hampi and the Bālakṛṣṇa type coins of Kṛṣṇadevarāya, to illustrate how the observation of the close parallel between sculpture and coins can yield us insights into the coinage and the historical context that might not otherwise be obtainable.
Deities on Ancient Indian Coins
India’s living mythology is unique among world cultures, and it is reflected in all aspects of its civilization. While a misnomer, its ‘33 crore Gods and Goddesses’ are to be found in all spheres of life in India, and numismatics is no exception. This paper aims to document all the important coins with deities in ancient Indian numismatic history. The time frame in question is around 6th century BC when coins were first produced, down to the Gupta era in around 500 CE. Though this is primarily an account of the deities issued on coins, the paper also traces some parallel religious and iconographic developments through the eras.