Varaha panel of Udayagiri
Topic: Early Indian Art and Architecture: Stupas, Rock-cut Caves, Temples · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Varaha panel is a huge relief, a sculpture carved out of a rock face, in the Udayagiri caves near Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh. It was made in the Gupta period, c. early 5th century CE. It shows Vishnu as Varaha, his boar avatar (a form a god takes on earth to save it). Varaha lifts the earth goddess out of the cosmic waters. It is one of the grandest early images of Puranic Vaishnavism, the worship of Vishnu based on stories in the Puranas.
Example
Some historians read the panel as a political message. In this reading Varaha rescuing the earth stands for the Gupta king Chandragupta II, who protected his kingdom much as Vishnu saved the world.
Don't confuse with
- Udayagiri-Khandagiri (Odisha): rock-cut chambers for Jain monks made under the Chedi king Kharavela, and home of the Hathigumpha inscription. The Udayagiri in Madhya Pradesh has Gupta-period caves mostly devoted to Vishnu.
Related concepts
- Gupta art
- Sarnath school of art
- Mudras
- Abhaya mudra
- Bhumisparsha mudra
- Dharmachakra mudra
- Dhyana mudra
- Varada mudra
- Vitarka mudra
- Anjali mudra