REVANTA
Central India
Circa 10th
11th c. A.D.
Sandstone
21.5” by 42.5”
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REVANTA |
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| Three horsemen
proceed single line in this frieze. The one at centre holds a cup and
wears a solemn tiara, while an attendant holds a sunshade over his head.
Other figures in the procession fill the background; on the far left a
man carries a sheep on his shoulders, on the right another one blows a
conch. The riders, one of them wielding a sword, have legs wrapped in
light garments and wear low boots. Under their feet and under the horses’
hoofs we see writhing or crouching animals whose snouts allow identifying
as boars: this is thus a hunting scene in which the man with the conch
seems to give the start. Other animals with more elongated bodies appear
on the edges of the lower register, where a procession of people bend
their legs running or flying. In the top register the goddess Lakshmi
is discernible in the act of being sprinkled by a pair of elephants; she
is flanked by sitting figures on either side, probably the nine planets.
The frames enhance the depth of the relief, the modelling is soft, the
faces feature marked oval traits. All the iconographic details (the mount,
the hunt, the cup, the boots) indicate in the central figure that of Revanta,
one of the Sun’s sons, according to the myth conceived by the Sun
and by Samjna after taking the shape of a horse. This god is the patron
of hunters and horses, and is invoked for protection from the spirits
and robbers of the forest. He is not widely represented, but can be included
for some aspects in the variegated sphere of divine and heroic cults connected
with economic activities of the wildest regions of India. On the other
hand, a link with the royalty is not improbable, since hunting was the
royal pastime par excellence. (Cinzia Pieruccini) |
© Renzo Freschi