Journal of Bengal Art, Vol. 18, 2013, 61-86 5 REVANTA IMAGES MAINLY FROM BIHAR AND A SPECIAL TYPE OF THREE EQUESTRIAN DEITIES FROM NORTH BENGAL Gerd J.R. Mevissen A large number of images depicting the horse-riding god Revanta, one of the sons of Surya, I are known from different regions of northern India? Strangely enough, images in which Surya and Revanta are represented together are hardly known. One such image is a bronze of Surya where a small horse-rider, apparently Revanta, is depicted in front of the pedestal facing his father, who is accompanied by Pingala and Dandin on his right and left side, respectively. The image is of Pratihara origin, dates approximately from the 11 th century and is now in the National Museum, New Delhi. 3 Another one was recently found at Makhpa, north of Tekari, Gaya district, Bihar (Plate 5.1). This unique stone sculpture of Surya is presently fixed in a niche of the circumambulatory path in a modern temple erected on a small mound near the village. Apparently, the original head of Sllrya is missing and has been replaced by a much too large head from another sculpture. Plate 5.1: Surya in modem temple at Makhpa, Gaya district, Bihar; full view and details (photos: Melzer & Mevissen 2013). The extraordinary image is shown standing on a chariot drawn by seven horses, directed by a small figure of Aruna sitting between Surya's booted feet. However, it deviates from usual Surya images in not showing the god accompanied by Dandin and Pingala, nor by any of his wives, nor
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Journal ofBengal Art, Vol. 18, 2013, 61-86
5
REVANTA IMAGES MAINLY FROM BIHAR AND A SPECIALTYPE OF THREE EQUESTRIAN DEITIES FROM NORTH BENGAL
Gerd J.R. Mevissen
A large number of images depicting the horse-riding god Revanta, one of the sons of Surya, I
are known from different regions of northern India? Strangely enough, images in which Surya
and Revanta are represented together are hardly known. One such image is a bronze of Surya
where a small horse-rider, apparently Revanta, is depicted in front of the pedestal facing his
father, who is accompanied by Pingala and Dandin on his right and left side, respectively. The
image is of Pratihara origin, dates approximately from the 11 th century and is now in the National
Museum, New Delhi.3 Another one was recently found at Makhpa, north of Tekari, Gaya district,
Bihar (Plate 5.1). This unique stone sculpture of Surya is presently fixed in a niche of the
circumambulatory path in a modern temple erected on a small mound near the village.
Apparently, the original head of Sllrya is missing and has been replaced by a much too large head
from another sculpture.
Plate 5.1: Surya in modem temple at Makhpa, Gaya district, Bihar; full view and details (photos:Melzer& Mevissen 2013).
The extraordinary image is shown standing on a chariot drawn by seven horses, directed by a
small figure of Aruna sitting between Surya's booted feet. However, it deviates from usual Surya
images in not showing the god accompanied by Dandin and Pingala, nor by any of his wives, nor
62 JOURNAL OF BENGAL ART
Plate 5.2: Two Revantas from Bengal. A: from Shamsi, Malda district, West Bengal:Indian Museum, Kolkata, no. 3606 (photo: Melzer 2009). B: Museum and ArtGallery.University of Burdwan (photo: AIlS 32804).
by the female archers. Instead, the principal image is surrounded on each side by numerous
miniature figures, arranged in several horizontal registers. At the bottom on the proper left side is
carved a scene depicting Revanta on horseback, holding the rein of the horse in his left hand and a
bowl in his raised right hand. A male figure stands in front of the horse, apparently offering some
food; another male figure holding a sword in the right hand is shown behind the horse; and a
larger female figure with an offering in her raised right hand stands in front of the group, but is
oriented towards the principal figure of Surya.
The other registers of this image are carved with different figures, many of them offering
garlands. Among these scenes, the one flanking the right thigh of Surya is most noteworthy in
showing a four-handed Mahisasuramardini killing the buffalo demon and to her left a Buddha-like
figure with his right hand in abhayamudrii and his left hand placed in the lap; his legs are
concealed by the high, multi-layered pedestal on which he is seated. This enigmatic Surya image
certainly deserves further studies.
In images representing Revanta as the principal figure, Surya is also rarely shown. As we will
see further on, Surya may occur as a member of the group of planetary deities depicted at the
REVANTA IMAGES MAINLY FROM BIHAR AND A SPECIAL TYPE 63
Plate 5.3: Four Revantas in the Indian Museum, Kolkata. A: no.OS 172 (photo: Mevissen 2009). B: from Telhara, Nalandadistrict, Bihar; no. 4038 (photo: Melzer 2009). C & D:fromUttarPradesh (photos: Mevissen 2009).
upper border of the sculpture, and only three Revanta images are known so far that include
separate larger figures of S[jry~ in the composition."
Typologically, the images of Revanta can be classified according to the number of the
equestrian figures that are depicted in the composition. Revanta himself is generally represented
as a two-armed deity riding on horseback, either to the left or to the right,' invariably wearing
boots and holding a cup or bowl in his right or left hand. Occasionally an attendant (mostly
female) is about to pour some drink from ajar into the cup held by Revanta.
Type 1 images are most numerous; they show the god as the only equestrian figure of the
composition, always in profile, either riding towards the left or right. He is accompanied by
several smaller attendant figures walking beside him, one of whom usually holds an umbrella
above the head of Revanta. One or several dogs and sometimes other animals, especially boars,
are shown at the bottom, indicating that the whole scene represents a hunting party." More than
100 images of Type 1 are known from all parts of northern India. I will illustrate here a few
examples mostly from eastern India, which remained unpublished so far.
64 JOURNAL OF BENGAL ART
Plate 5.4: Five Revantas from Bihar. A: Patna Museum (photo: Mevissen 2013). B:in temple at Makhpa, Gaya district (photo: Melzer 2013). C & D: in shrine atGhosrawan, Nalanda district (photo: Mevissen 2013); E: in Indradamanefara I 5"temple, Ashokdham, Lakhisarai district (photo: Mevissen 2013).
Two Revanta images from Bengal' escaped the attention of previous scholars (Plate S.2A-B).
Both show the god riding towards the proper left. The one marked as 'A' comes from Shamsi,
Malda district, West Bengal, now kept in the storeroom of the Indian Museum, Kolkata;" it
preserves only one small figure in front of the horse, but no animals. The sandstone fragment of-unrecorded provenance illustrated in 'B' belongs to the collection of the Museum and Art Gallery,
University of Burdwan;" it preserves parts of the attendants as well as some animals in the
pedestal.
Of the Revanta images in the Indian Museum, Kolkata, some unpublished sculptures are kept
in the storeroom (Plate S.3A-D). The provenance of 'A' is not known to me; it faces to the proper
left and shows a dog beneath the foot of the god and several musicians as well as an animal in the
pedestal." 'B' is from Telhara in Nalanda district, Bihar;11 we notice a dog attacking a boar
beneath the foot of the god, a Sh0l1 sword fastened to his wrist, and several attendant figures in the
upper part of the sculpture. 'C' and 'D' are said to come from Uttar Pradesh; they both show
Revanta accompanied by several subsidiary figures.l'' The three latter images face to the proper
right.
REVANTA IMAGES MAINLY fROM BII-IAR AND A SPECIAL TYPE
Plate 5.5: Two Revanta triads from Uttar Pradesh. A: in Avijit Lahiri Collection, London(after Bhattacharya 2005: fig. 2). B: from Somnabhar, Sultanpur district (after Sotheby'sLondon, 22nd/23rd October 1992: lot 376).
65
Several more images of Type 1 from different places in Bihar have recently come to light
(Plate5.4A-E).13 The one marked as 'A' is a fairly large sculpture presently on display in the
courtyard of the Patna Museum," showing two boars between the legs of the horse, two dogs
chasing a boar in the pedestal, and two birds flanking the ornamented halo of the god;" a sheathed
sword and a whip are hanging from his belt. 'B' is a severely damaged fragment (height ea. 38
cm) kept in the modern temple near Makhpa (where the enigmatic Surya sculpture is located,
mentioned above); it preserves only a standing attendant figure in front of the horse, the hoof of
which is placed on an animal, and some musicians in the pedestal. 'C' is a fragment of the upper
66 JOURNAL OF BENGAL ART
part of a Revanta image with
numerous attendant figures, now fixed
in the wall of an open-air shrine at
Ghosrawan, N~landa district." 'D' is a
fragment of another sculpture
preserved in the same place, showing
a hare between the legs of the horse.
And 'E' is a beautifully carved and
well-preserved architectural piece
(candrasalai presently kept in the
store-room of the large, recently built
Indradarnanesvara temple at
Ashokdham. Lakhisarai district,
showing Revanta with four attendant
figures. but no animals." We notice
that 'A' and 'B' face to the proper right,
whereas 'C' to 'E' face to the proper
ieft.
Type 2 images of Revanta have been
popular especially in the western part
of northern and central India. They
show the equestrian god accompaniedby two additional horse-riders of
almost similar size, both booted, as
well as by his usual entourage of
walking attendants. In most casesRevanta is depicted as the central figure of the three equestrians. The two additional characters
can be identified as Dandin and Pingala, the two acolytes of Revanta's father Surya." All three aregenerally shown in profile, either riding towards the left or towards the right. Most elaborate is a
sculpture of unrecorded provenance now in the Avijit Lahiri Collection, London (Plate 5.5A).19
The group is riding towards the proper right with Pingala at the head and Dandin at the back. This
arrangement is found in most images of Type 2. In front of Pingala is a large figure of his father
Surya standing over a goddess riding a lion, perhaps Durga, Surya is again depicted in the upperregister, as the first member of the row of eight planetary deities (astagrahai, which ends with
the large head of Rahu. 20 On the right, the register continues with Ganesa, Kubera, Abhiseka
Laksmi, another pot-bellied male, and a female holding a curved object. The presence of Ganesa,
Laksmi and the Grahas suggests the wish for success and good luck in the hunting excursion of
Revanta.
Plate 5.6: Two Revanta triads from Bihar. A: present locationunknown (after Nies 2009: 31). B: fragment in moderntemple at Makhpa, Gaya district (photo: Melzer 2013).
REVANTA IMAGES MAINLY FROM BIHAR AND A SPECIAL TYPE 67
Plate 5.7: Three fragments from different Revanta triads. A: Dandin (after Sotheby's London,24th November 1986: lot 153). B: Pingala; Haryana State Museum, Chandigarh (after Handa2006: pI. 291). C: Revanta (afterSotheby's New York, December 1,1993: lot 301).
That the inclusion of numerous subsidiary figures is a general feature of the triple equestrian
type of Revanta images can also be witnessed on an image which, until 1986, was in worship in a
modern shrine at Somnabhar, Sultanpur district, Uttar Pradesh, from where it then found its way
to the London art market (Plate 5.5B).2 1 Here the group moves to the proper left. The row of
deities depicted in the upper register starts with the Navagrahas followed by Abhiseka-Laksrnl
and eight Matrkas; the row at the bottom shows numerous musicians.
Several similar panels of this type are known from different places in northern India. In the
following list, they have been arranged statewise; see e.g. for Haryana: (i) fixed in the wall of a
dharmasald at Kanwari, moving to proper right;" (ii) from Pehowa, preserving Revanta and
Pingala on one fragment, Dandin on another, moving to proper left;23 (iii) from Thanesar,
Kurukshetra, now in the Haryana State Museum, Chandigarh;" UttaranchaI: (iv) in worship in a
temple near Jagesvara, Almora district, moving to proper right;" Rajasthan: (v) from Mallah,
Rajasthan, now in the Bharatpur Museum, with Grahas and Dikpalas, moving to proper right;"
(vi) in an open Devi shrine at Badipur, Kaman, Bharatpur district, with Astagrahas and
Astadikpalas, moving to proper right;" Uttar Pradesh: (vii) in the Government Museum,
Mathura, moving to proper left;28 (viii) in a shrine at Aring, Mathura district, with Navagrahas and
Astavasus, moving to proper left;" (ix) in an open Devi shrine at Mandoi, Mathura district, with a
separate Surya figure in front of Pingala and Astagrahas above, moving to proper right;" (x) two
fragments in a Devi shrine at Mahrana, Mathura district, preserving Pingala and Revanta, with a
separate Snrya figure in front of Pingala, moving to proper right;" (xi) from Bhita, now in the
AlIahabad Museum, with Grahas, moving to proper left;32 (xii) at Musanagar, moving to proper
left;" Madhya Pradesh: (xiii) in a frieze beneath the ceiling in the Siva temple at Padavali,
moving to proper rightr'" (xiv) in a temple at Sohagpur, Shadol district, moving to proper right;35
68 JOURNAL OF BENGAL ART
(xv) in the verandah of Thakur's house at
Arjula, Shahdol district, moving to
proper left;" (xvi) in the State Museum,
Dhubela, moving to proper left;'7 (xvii)
fragment kept in a storeroom at Pathari,
with Navagrahas and Matrkas, moving
to proper right;" (xviii) of unrecorded
provenance, moving to proper left." In
all these panels, Pingala rides in front of
Revanta, often turning his head towards
the god, no matter in which direction the
whole group is moving.
But there are also variations, though
few. In a panel probably from Bihar, the
group moves to the proper left with
DaJJ9in riding in front and Pingala
following at the end (Plate 5.6A).4o A
fragment from Badoh-Pathari, Madhya
Pradesh, now in the National Museum,
New Delhi,41 also moving to the proper
left, again shows Pingala behind
Revanta; the figure of Dandin, which
once must have been in front, is missing.
The same may apply to a fragmentary group moving to the proper right, presently under worship
in a modern Devl shrine at Harnaul, Mathura district, Uttar Pradesh, preserving only Revanta
followed by Pingala(?).42 For a fragment kept in the modern temple at Makhpa, Bihar (see above),
which only preserves two of the three figures riding to the proper right (Plate 5.6B), it is difficult
to tell who is the one riding in front of Revanta, the latter being distinguished by the umbrella
above his head, as the slightly smaller figure in front seems to hold a bowl in his right hand. Both
equestrians show a sword fixed to their saddlecloths, held in place by their left legs. Another
variation is found in a panel of unknown provenance now in the Norton Simon Museum,
Pasadena, where Revanta leads the group moving to the proper right, followed by Pingala and
D di 43anc 1Il.
Plate 5.8 Triple equestrian group (Revanta?), stone,from Shadea, Uttar Dinajpur district, West Bengal;Varendra Research Museum, Rajshahi, no. 1534(photos: A: after Saraswati 1936: pI. 3, fig. 4; B: afterRahman 1998: pI. 336).
In all these images where Pingala is clearly identifyable, he invariably holds a pen and aninkpot, his usual attributes, while the object held by Dandin is either a long staff, a spear, or asword. These features allow us to identify some fragmentary sculptures as parts of former Revanta
REVANTA IMAGES MAINLY FROM BIHARANDA SPECIAL TYPE 69
Plate 5.9: Triple equestrian group (Revanta?), stone; Department of Archaeology, Dhaka, reg. no.DA/R/40 (photos: A: Bhuiyan 2011; B-C: after Hossain 2003: ph. 1-2).
images of the triple equestrian type (Plate 5.7A-C). The figure marked as 'A' holding a sword is
certainly Dandin facing to the proper left, once riding at the head of a Revanta triad." This can be
inferred from the Graha figures of Rahu and Ketu remaining in the upper register, implying
that there was a full group of Navagrahas of which only the last two members survived. The
fragment marked as 'B', now in the Haryana State Museum, Chandigarh," is certainly aPingala from a Revanta triad moving to the proper left, though it remains unclear whether it was
placed before or after Revanta in the original image. And the one marked as 'Cl is the centralRevanta figure of a triad moving to the proper left," again hinted at by the presence of miniature
figures in the upper register, viz. the last three members of a Navagraha group and the first twomembers of a Matrka group.
As already stated, the triple equestrian type of Revanta images was popular mainly in thewestern part of northern and central India. Such images are quite rarely found in Bihar (see
Plate 5.6). The easternmost extension of this type is documented by an elaborate panelfrom Ashokdham-Rajaona, Lakhisarai district, Bihar." It comprises more than forty miniaturefigures arranged in four registers. Dandin holds a sword and rides in front while Pingala
follows at the back. The large urban centre of ancient Krimila, once covering the area ofmodem Lakhisarai town as well as the surrounding villages and located at the crossing pointof major trade routes connecting Gaya and Nalanda in the West with Bengal/Assam in the Eastand Nepal/Tibet in the North,48 would appear predestined to have been a place of worship for
travelling merchants who sought protection from the forest deity Revanta; indeed, this
elaborate image of Type 2 and the other two of Type I (see Plate 5.4E, and note 17) point in
this direction. Whereas Type I images are also found in Bengal, the triple equestrian type does
not seem to have been used further east, i.e. beyond eastern Bihar.
JOURNAL OF BENGAL ART
Plate 5.10: Two triple equestrian groups (Revanta?), metal, from Bangladesh; Private collection,Bangladesh (photos:Melzer and Mevissen 2011).
As we have seen, in both types Revanta is invariably shown holding a cup, mostly in his right
hand, in few examples in his left hand. The cup is surprisingly not described in any of the
weLl- ~textual sources. Only the Pratisthdlaksanasiirasamuccaya mentions a skull vessel with
iAt.to-...?l1 liquor as attribute in the right hand of Revanta and garlic in the left."? The Kdlikd-Purdna
describes a sword in the right and a whip in the left hand/" the Mdrkandeya-Purdna
mentions a sword and a quiver."I;;;
REVANTAIMAGES MAINLY FROM BIH.ARAND A SPECIAL TYPE
Plate 5.11: Triple equestrian group (Revanta?), metal, from Rajshahi, Bangladesh; Art Institute ofChicago, Robert Allerton Purchase Fund, no. 1981.641 (photo courtesy of the Art Institute ofChicago).
Plate 5.1 : riple equestrian group (Revanta?), metal, from Chopra, Uttar Dinajpur district, WestBengal; State Archaeological Museum West Bengal, Kolkata, no. 04.111 (photo: Melzer 2011).
71
JOURNAL OFBENGAL ART
Plate 5.13: Female rider, probably from a triple equestrian group (Revanta?), metal,from Bangladesh; Private collection, Austria (photos: Poell20l2).
Plate 5.14: Details of the female riders in Plates 5.12 and 5.13 (photos: Poell2012 and Melzer 2011).
REVANTA IMAGES MAINLY FROM BIHAR AND A SPECIALTYPE 73
Now we can proceed to another type ofimages depicting three equestrian figures,which largely remained unidentified so far.
They all hail from Bengal, especially NorthBengal, and seem to date from the latter part of
the 11th century or later. The group is generally
depicted in frontal view; the principal figure in
the centre, always holding a sword in his right
hand, is in most cases larger than the two
additional horse riders, who also carry a sword.All three figures wear boots. One figure is
invariably female. Altogether seven images of
this type have surfaced so far, two stone
sculptures and five metal images."
The first image (Plate 5.8) was noticed by
S.K. Saraswati in March 1935 at Shadea on theChiramati river, present Uttar Dinajpur district
of West Bengal. The slab was then donated tothe Varendra Research Museum, Rajshahi." All
three figures are of the same height; the female
rider is on the proper left; the two male riders
each hold a mace or sword in the right hand
while the left is kept in front of the chest, perhaps holding the reins; the female seems to hold a
bowl or cup in the right hand; her left hand resembles that of the male figures. An umbrella isvisible above each figure.
Plate 5.15: Detail of Kalkin from a Dasavatarapanel from Nalanda, Bihar; Indian Museum,Kolkata, no. 4181 (photo: Mevissen 2009).
The second stone image is now kept in the Department of Archaeology at Dhaka (Plate 5.9);
its exact provenance is unrecorded." The central figure is of much larger size, seems to have afierce facial expression and wears an upavita and a high karandamukuta crowned by an umbrella.
The female figure is again on the proper left. All three figures hold a sword in their right hands
and the rein in the left. The one-line inscription on the upper portion of the pedestal is now
completely eroded. A small kneeling donor figure in aiijali-mudrii is carved in the proper right
corner ofthe pedestal. The upright format of the image with the pointed top and its height indicate
that it once may have been installed in the sanctum of a temple or in a wall niche.
Of the five metal images, the most simple one now belongs to a private collection inBangladesh (Plate 5.10A); its provenance is unrecorded. As in the previous image, the principalfigure is much larger than its two companions and wears an upavita. The female is again placedon the proper left. None of the male figures is bearded. All three figures carry a sword in the righthand and hold the rein in the left. There are no donor figures in the pedestal.
74 JOURNAL OF BENGAL ART
The second metal image, again of unrecorded provenance, is also in a private collection in
Bangladesh (Plate 5.10B). It resembles the previous one, but here the side figures are of almost
equal height. The two male figures are bearded with fierce expressions and both wear high
pointed crowns. As a unique feature, the female occurs on the proper right side of the principal
figure. All three figures are placed on a high, slightly slanting pedestal with decorated mouldings.
Two kneeling donor figures in aiijali-mudrii occur at either end of the stand. Two metal loops,
one above the other, are attached to the back of the principal figure probably to fix the staff of aseparately cast (or wooden) umbrella.
The third metal image is said to come from Rajshahi, Bangladesh; it is now in the Art
Institute of Chicago (Plate 5.11).55 The group is shown against an elaborate throne-back. The
principal figure is slightly larger and bearded, as is the male on the proper right. Both male figures
have large curly hair and wear upavitas, their faces show a fierceful expression. The female is
again on the proper left. All three figures carry a sword in their right hands and hold the rein in the
left. A small kneeling donor figure in aiijali-mudra is shown in the proper right corner of the
pedestal. A very important feature of this image is the long, one-line inscription incised on the
front of the pedestal. Unfortunately the inscription has not yet been read or translated."
The most ornamented and perhaps latest piece was unearthed in 1992 near Chopra in Uttar
Dinajpur district, West Bengal; it now belongs to the State Archaeological Museum West Bengal,
Kolkata (Plate 5.12).57 The principal figure is much larger and has a long pointed beard. The
female is placed on the proper left. All three figures carry a sword in their right hands and have
their left hands in front of the chest, perhaps holding the reins. But the female figure seems to
hold some bigger object, perhaps a bowl or cup. The elaborate parikara is embellished with geese
and flying vidyiidharas and a kirtimukha at the apex. Two tiny donor figures in aiijali-mudra are
kneeling on either side at the bottom of the pedestal. In contrast to all previous images, each
figure is worked as a separate piece placed on a high double-petalled lotus stand (visvapadmai.
Thus, the whole composition consists of at least four separately cast pieces.
The last metal image to be presented here is a single figure of a female rider of unrecorded
provenance (Plate 5.13). It was acquired in Dhaka in 1989 and now belongs to a private
collection in Austria. The figure has a fierce facial expression with bulging eyes, holding a
handle, perhaps of a broken sword, in the right hand and a bowl in the left hand. It is mounted on
a high visvapadma pedestal, to the side of which is attached a small kneeling donor figure in
aiijali-mudrd. If we compare this female rider with the one from the Chopra group (Plate 5.14),
we can well imagine that it may once have belonged to a similar image depicting the triple
equestrians consisting of separately cast figures.
Now, how to identify this group of images? Some of them have previously been identified asrepresentations of Vi~DU'S Kalkin avatdra, mainly because of the horse mount and the swordattribute. Although it is true that Kalkin sometimes holds a sword in his right hand, in most casesthe attribute resembles a mace, which then corresponds to the disk held in his left hand." Sinceonly very few independent images of Kalkin have so far been found from Bengal,59 it would be
REVANTA IMAGES MAINLY FROM BIHAR AND A SPECIAL TYPE 75
rather surprising if the group of three equestrian figures from Bengal were hinting at a cult ofKalkin which is otherwise unknown in this region. None of the triple images shows any specialVisnu sign, e.g. a vaisnava attribute, a srivatsa mark on the chest, or a Garuda in the pedestal.
To make things more complicated, we even find images of Kalkin where he is represented
holding a cup or bowl in one of his hands and with an umbrella above his head, both features
usually related to Revanta images, as e.g. in the Dasavatara panel from Nalanda, now in theIndian Museum, Kolkata (Plate 5.15).60 The same applies to the large four-armed sculpture of
Kalkin in niche 22 of the Queen's stepwell at Patan, Gujarat, which forms part of a full set of
avatdra images." However, in both cases no animals have been depicted between the legs of the
horse." It seems that the presence of animals at the bottom of images depicting equestrian deities
has to be regarded as a major identifying mark of Revanta images according to Type I (and Type2 as well).
In spite of the fact that none of the triple equestrian groups from Bengal shows an animal atthe bottom, for the time being I am inclined to opt for identifying them as a Bengali version of
Revanta images according to Type 2, a type which was so popular in northern and central India,
but so far not known from any region east of Lakhisarai, i.e. eastern Bihar. If they were really
meant to represent Revanta with his retinue, however, they follow a different iconographic
concept than the well-known Revanta images of Type 2 created further west, by depicting the god
in frontal view, by replacing the rather peaceful attendants Dandin and Pingala with a male and a
female attendant, by showing all three figures in fierce and attacking mood, and by supplying all
of them with a sword as their main attribute (i.e., taking the attribute of Dandin in the Type 2
images and giving it to all the three figures).
This image tradition seems to have been developed 111 or after the 11th century and wasapparently confined to a rather limited geographical region, namely North Bengal, as far as can be
judged from the few images with a known provenance. In other instances too, North Bengal has
proved to be very innovative in developing iconographic concepts that came from the west,
especially from Bihar.63 However, unless any textual or epigraphic evidence turns up, we cannotbe completely sure about the identification of this triple equestrian group as Revanta, and that is
the reason why I have retained a question mark in the captions of the respective illustrations.
Acknowledgements
I wish to thank Dr. Gudrun Melzer, Or. Heinrich Poell, Or. Mokammal Bhuiyan and Or. Vinay Kumar
Gupta for generously sharing their photographs, to the authorities of the Art Institute of Chicago for
supplying the photograph reproduced in Plate 5.11 and granting permission to publish it, to the authorities
of the Indian Museum, Kolkata, the State Archaeological Museum West Bengal, Kolkata, and the Patna
Museum for the permission to publish the photographs reproduced in Plates 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.12, 5.14 and
5.15, and to the respective private collectors for the permission to publish the photographs reproduced in
Plates 5.10, 5.13 and 5.14.
76
Notes & References:
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I. According to Indian mythology, Surya had several children. The virgin Kunti, future mother of the five
Pandava brothers, became pregnant after having invoked Surya and begot a son, Karna. Surenu or
Sarnjfia, the daughter of Visvakarrnan, bore to her spouse Surya two sons and a daughter: Vaivasvata,
the Manu of the present age; Yama, the god of Death and Dikpala of the South; and Yaml or Yamuna,
the river goddess. By Chaya, the "shadow" of Sarnjfia, he begot three more children: Savarni, the Manu
of the future; Sani or Sanaiscara, the planetary god Saturn; and Tapati, another river goddess. Finally
Snrya and Samjfia, in the form of a stallion and a mare, had three more sons: the horse-faced twins or
Asvinikumaras Nasatya and Dasra, and Revanta. -. For references to studies on Revanta in literature
and epigraphs, see Mevissen 2010a: 29-30, 46, notes 1-7.
53. VRM no. 1534, grey sandstone, 30.5 x 50 cm, from Shadea (according to Ranjusri Ghosh [email dated
29 March, 2012], the place is now known as Sandia) on the Chiramati river (two miles north-east of
Baigungaon), Itahar, Uttar Dinajpur; donated to the VRM Rajshahi in 1935 by S.K. Saraswati and OKChakravarty. See Saraswati 1936: 18, pl, 3, fig. 4 "Unidentified group"; Rahman 1998: 340-34 I no.
826 (under "Uncertain and Unidentified Images"), 732, pl. 336 "Three Riders on Horseback".
54. Kept in the office room of the regional Director, Khulna Division, Department of Archaeology, reg. no.
DA/R/40; sandstone, 62 x 31.8 cm. See Hossain 2003: passim, photos 1-2 "fashioned by some local
sculptor belonging to Samatata" (56) "[...] hybrid [...] bears characteristics of Kalki and Revanta [...]
has all no parallel at outside Bengal" (59); Mevissen 2010a: 37-38 no. 7, 51, notes 46-50, pl, 3.13.
55. Art Institute of Chicago, Robert AlIerton Purchase Fund, no. 1981.64 I, 22.6 x 16.9 x 8 cm, "c. 10th
century, Revanta" (http://www .artic.edulaic/collections/artworkl63527?search_no= I&index=4).
56. Inscribed images of Revanta are very rare. So far I know of only five other images: (i) probably from
North Bengal (see note 7); (ii) sculpture in the Department of Archaeology, Dhaka (see Plate 5.9); (iii)
stone plaque, ht. 10.5 cm, from Gaya, now in the AlIahabad Museum, no. 975 (Sharma 1975: 56, fig.
36; for further references and a reading of the inscription by Gouriswar Bhattacharya, see Mevissen
2010a: 34, 49, note 34; AIlS 84142); (iv) stone plaque from Bihar, ht. 12 cm, now in the Museum
REVANTA iMAGES MAiNLY FROM BlHAR AND A SPECiAL TYPE 81
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