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श्रमण
MMI
Select Vyantara Devatās in Early Indian
Art and Literature (An Abstract of the Thesis ]
Dr. Nandini Mehta*
The term 'Vyantara Devata' denotes a semi-divine being who attend upon a God or a Goddess or divine leaders of different religious pantheons. Both literally and sculpturally, these beings are depicted as intermediatery gods, generally, suspending in the sky, singing and laudatoring the great deeds of the related deities, an earthly hero or even a noble soul. They remain occasionally present with folded hands by the side of Gods in the form of a humble, devoted servant of they mostly hover above the head of a deity showering flowers or offering garlands to eulogise him. Being impressed by the splendour of the deity, some of them gather to sing the glory of God and dance delightfully with their females in honour of the deity.
Though the list of Vyantara devatās differs in Hindu, Buddhist and Jaina texts but some of the name are common. These are Deva, Yakșa, Nāga (Mahoraga ), Raksasa, Gandharvas, Asuras, Garuda, Kinnara, Vidyadhara, Kumbhānda, Kabandha, Apsara, Siddha, Sadhya, Pramatha (Gaņa ), Piśāca, Bhūta, Kimpuruşa etc. Thus we find them in good numbers but because of certain limitations, the present scholar has opted only three of them, namely, Garuda, Vidyadhara and Gandharva to discuss in detail. These semi-divine beings are studied primarily from two angles, such as, how they are described jn early Indian literature and secondly, how reflected in art in accordance to their iconographic descriptions. The present study would include explanatory notes on the iconographical details including attributes in the hand of the semidivine elements with the help of textual references. Explanations of such a nature is hardly found in the writings of scholars in the field. This study covers a period from the beginning of Indian art upto 12th century A. D. mainly, on
the basis of available stone sculptures, that hail from different sites in Northern Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only
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