Vishnupatta

Vishnupatta—Double-Sided Vishnu Mandala with Avatars
Bangladesh, 8th – 12th century
Phyllite
Collection of the Newark Museum. Gift of Dr. David R. Nalin, 1989 89.164

This small stone piece is a Vishnupatta, a tablet devoted to Vishnu that was likely used for personal worship. One side of this stele displays avatars of Vishnu: Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, Vamana, Trivikrama, Rama, Parashurama, Buddha and Kalki, circumscribed within the petals of a lotus flower. Because of its connotations of beauty and eternal renewal, the lotus was believed to be the throne of the gods and symbolic of time and the cosmos.

The opposite side of the tablet displays Vishnu seated with his attributes in his four hands. Above, his consort Lakshmi, the goddess of abundance, appears in the form of Gajalakshmi seated in a yogic posture and flanked by two elephants. Below, the bird-man Garuda, Vishnu’s vehicle, kneels and makes a gesture of homage. Housed within two architectural niches at the sides are two female attendants bearing flywhisks (chauri), emblems of Vishnu’s high status. Knowledge-bearers (vidyadhara) hover with flower garlands in the upper corners, while two strongmen brace the lower corners offering their loving protection. These portable plaques were likely sold at temple sites to worshippers on pilgrimage and taken back to their individual homes. Though not a mandatory undertaking, pilgrimage to a venerated temple or sacred site is an important expression of bhakti.

All photographs and videos have been provided by Entrepid Productions with support from Andrew Hair, Daniel King, and Garth Pratt.