Jignasa Journal Of History Of Ideas And Culture Part 02

Author(s): Vibha Upadhyaya and Others
Publisher: University of Rajasthan

Page 25

Goddess Vikatā of Harshanātha, Sikar
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in a fix for many years and ultimately I sought the gracious help from a veteran scholar of Indian literature and iconography i.e., Dr. N.P. Joshi of Varanasi.
Dr. Joshi furnished some interesting facts which prove that "Vikațā is a Yogini - a mother goddess representing Pärvati Gauri". The Avanti Khanda of the Skaņda Purana, Chapter 16 alludes
facTTTHChi; facerea ufi ft' On the basis of the same Puräna, chapter 46, verses 154-158), Dr. Joshi further rernarked in his monograph Matrikā, Mothers in Kushāņa Art, Delhi, 1986, p. 36 with great emphasis that "Vikață is goddess Gauri"; also proved by the sanctum image and the Harsha Temple Inscription of V.S. 1030 cited above.
This is sufficient to prove that the praśastikāra of Harshanatha inscription was inspired by Skanda Purāņa and made use of unusual term Vikață for Tapasvini Pārvatio at Harsha Hill of Sikar quite vividly
Reference
1. Progress Report of Archeological Survey of India, Western Circle, Poona, 1909-1910, pp. 52-55: Indian Antiquary, 42, 1913, pp. 57-64.
2. S. Kramrisch, Hindu Temple, Calcutta, Vol. II, pp. 107-113.
3. M. Meister, M.A. Dhaky and K. Deva, Encyclopaedia of Indian Temple Architecture, Varanasi-Delhi Vol. II (3), 1998, pp. 107-13; Fig. 299 for Gauri-Parvati; Figs. 300-301 for Nāyikās on wall in the sanctum of Harshanatha Temple.
4. D.R. Bhandarkar, Indian Antiquary, No. 42, 1913, pp. 57-64.
5. R.C. Agrawala, Bharatiya Vidya. Bombay, Vol. 27, 1967, p. 58: Varada Hindi, Bisau - Rajasthan, XI(2), 1968. pp. 1-3. I had also examined in the company of late Sri Krishna Deva.
6. Neelima Vasishtha, Sculptural Traditions of Rajasthan, Jaipur, 1989, plate X. p. 47; Tera Hot 92927, UTC, 2001, p. 45, plate 34.
7. Ambika Dhaka's paper on the Harsha Hill Temple in Purā Jagat - J.P. Joshi Commemoration Vol, DelhiVol. II, 2012, p. 376, Plate 56/viii wherein rubbings above of the pedestal are clear
8. It is not possible to identify the sanctum Gauri - Vikață image with ogress Hidimba at all, the latter is never an object of worship in Brahmanic pantheon.
9. Gauri was treading the Vikata Marga (face Tof) by performing penance and it appears that she was so named as Vikatā; the word is derived from Sanskrit word Vikata.