| Temples & Legends of Himachal Pradesh |
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| Temples & Legends Of India |
CHAMBA |
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| If this
is correct, it follows that the deity to the right of the supposed Chandra must be
Sanaischara. The sloka regarding Rahu quoted by Bhattarcharya from Hemadri, rambalam
pustakam karyam bhujanaikena samyutam would seem to be corrupt, and might instead be,
kevalam mastakam karyam bhujenaikena samyutam Beneath this lintel is another frieze of five single figures
projecting from the ornamental friezes between the capitals of the inner most door-jambs
and round the cella door. The prominent central carving again represents the sungod on his
chariot drawn by seven horses. The others show gandharvas, playing cymbals, bow-harp and
staff-cithara, and must be regarded as the musicians accompanying the dance of the
apsarases in the panels of the adjoining door-jambs. The idol of Kali, in her aspect as Mahisha- mardial, probably is contemporary with the later wood-carvings on the architraves and window panels, but of a very different type. An inscription in late Sharada characters on the pedestal states that one Panja- manaka Jinaka from Bhadrawah in the Sastra cast it? year 4645-A.D.-1569-70 (according to Dr. Hermann Goetz) and dedicated by Thakur Himapala. According to Dr. Hutchison the inscription shows it to belong to a late period perhaps to the thirteenth or fourteenth century. It is a rather primitive and clumsy work, despite its elaborate character. For the goddess is represented eight- armed, standing on the defeated buffalo- demon whom her threefold lion attacks from behind. To the right stands a small figure of the donor, a caricature of similar statuettes in Rajasthan. But the bodies of the goddess and of the buffalo look bloated, notwithstanding the thin legs and arms. Kali's head is much too big, and her mukuta looks rather like the ceremonial crown of a Tibetan lama, her girdle like that of a Lamaistic terrible deity. The enclosing frame suggests brass idols of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries from Rajasthan, the top of it the backs of early Mughal thrones. |
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