A Stone Visnu-Pata from Mahanad in the National Museum of India
By A. K. Bhattacharya
Summary
In this article, A. K. Bhattacharyya draws attention to a large stone tablet from Mahānād, West Bengal, preserved in the National Museum of India. Such tablets, called Viṣṇu‑Paṭa (literally “slab of Viṣṇu”), were popular in Bengal as portable icons for personal devotion, analogous to the Jaina āyāgapaṭas. They came into vogue during the decadent phase of Pāla art, roughly from the twelfth to the fourteenth century, and examples are known from Hooghly, Dacca and other centres in Bengal. The author describes the Mahānād tablet in detail. It is a square slab with a crude floral border, each corner decorated with lotus petals. In the centre Viṣṇu stands on Garuḍa, holding a cakra, lotus, conch and gadā; Lakṣmī and Sarasvatī stand on either side with proper attributes. Around the god are carved the ten avatāras in a double‑petalled lotus. Only six avatāras survive: Matsya, Kūrma, Varāha, Narasiṃha, Vāmana and Rāma; the remaining figures are lost due to damage. The reverse of the slab is bordered by arches and contains a simple geometric pattern. Bhattacharyya compares this specimen with metal Viṣṇu‑Paṭas housed in the Dacca Museum and the Bangīya Sahitya Parishad, noting that the Mahānād piece is the largest and best preserved. He suggests that the purpose of such tablets was to serve both as souvenirs for pilgrims at Viṣṇu temples and as objects of household worship. The author discusses the iconographic programme, pointing out that the inclusion of Lakṣmī and Sarasvatī suggests an affinity with Vaikuṇṭha images of Kashmir, while the presence of ten avatāras reflects the growing popularity of the Daśāvatāra cult in medieval Bengal. He situates the Mahānād tablet within the broader context of Pāla–Sena art, highlighting the provincial workmanship, blocky figures and lack of refinement that mark the later phase of the school. He also mentions copper plates and terracotta plaques with similar iconography from Dacca and Bengal museums. The article concludes that while no firm date can be assigned, stylistic features and the distribution of Viṣṇu‑Paṭas point to a thirteenth‑century origin for the Mahānād tablet, making it an important witness to provincial Vaiṣṇava devotion and artistic activity in Bengal.
Conclusion
The article documents a rare Vaiṣṇava votive slab from Mahānād and situates it within the little‑studied tradition of Viṣṇu‑Paṭas. By examining its iconography and comparing it with other stone and metal examples, A. K. Bhattacharyya argues that such slabs were produced in Bengal’s late Pāla period for domestic worship and as pilgrim souvenirs. The Mahānād tablet’s portrayal of Viṣṇu flanked by Lakṣmī and Sarasvatī and encircled by avatāras underscores how local artisans adapted pan‑Indian motifs. Though provincial in style, the slab enriches our understanding of medieval Bengali religious art.