Two Saura Images from the District of 24-Parganas

Summary

The two Saura images discovered in the 24-Parganas district include a Sun-god (Surya) sculpture and a Navagraha slab. The Surya image, found at Kashipore, depicts the Sun-god standing with a round face, thick lips, and long drawn eyes, wearing a cap-like head-dress, a short necklace with a rectangular bar, plain bracelets, and a long tunic resembling Kushan-era attire. He holds lotus stalks in both hands, terminating in bunches of flowers, and stands with his legs inside the hollow of the car, a feature consistent with ancient iconographic conventions. The pedestal shows a chariot with seven horses and Aruna, the charioteer, holding a goad and reins. The second Surya image, housed in the Rajshahi Museum, shares similar features but differs in dress, with a bare upper body and a short, wrapped lower garment. The Navagraha slab, discovered at Kankandighi, is carved from black chlorite stone and features the nine planets in relief, aligned on a lotus. Each planet is depicted with an oval halo, lotus borders, and snake-head designs, wearing a sacred thread and short skirt. The planets are accompanied by their vahanas (vehicles), including a lion, swan, boar, deer, elephant, and others, carved in scrolls beneath them. The slab’s decorative elements, such as the pointed semi-circular projections and leaf-like designs, resemble Caitya window motifs from the Gupta period. This unique representation of the planets on a single lotus, with a continuous lotus stalk instead of individual flowers, marks it as a rare and stylistically significant artifact from Bengal, likely dating to the late