Anjaneya (Orissa)

This is , of course, Anjaneya. Here he is standing in Samapada (without any bend) and with his hands in Anjali mudra. Anjaneya is the foremost , if not he first, devotee of Lord Rama.

His ornamentation is sparse and it includes crown, earrings, neckwear, wrist bands, anklets and sirachakra. A lotus pedestal, Padmapeetha, supports him. Anjaneya raised tail circles his Sirachakra, a whimsical touch.

This vigraha is from Orissa. The only distinctive feature we have are his ear ornaments. Please see the picture below of the in-situ stone sculptures of Anjaneya with Sita, Rama and Lakshman. The photograph is from the book ‘The iconography of Vaishnava images from Orissa’ by Thomas E Donaldson.

This Anjaneya also would have been a part of such a group.

Incidentally some of the earliest sculptures of the Rama group, standing Rama, Sita, Lakshman and Anjaneya are from Orissa.

The vigraha is about 9.5 cm in height. It is from Orissa and going by the wear may not be earlier than the eighteenth century.

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