Sources of Ancient Indian Iconography: - Vedas Are the Primary Sources of All Ideology of the Indian Culture
Sources of Ancient Indian Iconography: - Vedas are the primary sources of all ideology of the Indian culture. Various forms of various deities have been praised in the Vedas, icons or idols have mentioned in the various eulogies of Vedas. Many deities were conceived in Indian religions. Different sect of Brahmin religion such as Shaivite, Vaishnavism, Shakt, and solar belong to Siva, Vishnu, Shakti and Sun deities respectively. Similarly, Jain and Buddhism are related to Tirthankaras and Buddha respectively. The Brahmin literature: - The early literature of various religions gives a description of the imagination, origin and development of various deities. Various stories, events and different themes related to the deities are found in the early religious literatures such as Vedic texts, Puranas and later Vedic literature. In the Rigveda, Yajurveda, Atharvaveda, Taittariya Samhita, Shatapatha Brahmana, Aitreya Brahmana, Ramayan, Mahabharat, Vayu Purana, Vishnu Purana, Shiva Purana, Markandeya Purana, Matsya Purana, Linga Purana, Harivansh Purana, Padma Purana, Brahma Purana, Devi Bhagavata Purana and Garuna Purana has described the character and nature of Gods and Goddesses, their stories, Armaments, hobbies and interrelations etc. In all the Puranas, the ten chapters of the ancient Matsya Purana described the shape and size of the idols. In this Purana, the details related to the Shivalinga and the human idols of Shiva are presented prominently. The sixteen chapter of Agni Purana describe iconography. In addition to the Saiva and Vaishnav idols in this Purana Devi (Goddess) and sun idols have been discussed. The Vishnu Dharmottar Purana is particularly notable in this context, it has a more detailed description than others Purana.
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