A Rare Bifacial Image from Ghosrawan, Nalanda District, Bihar Jalaj Kumar Tiwari1 1. Archaeological Survey of India, Archaeological Museum, Vaishali, 844 128, Bihar, India (Email: [email protected]) Received: 01 July 2016; Accepted: 08 August 2016; Revised: 30 August 2016 Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 4 (2016): 607-610 Abstract: Village Ghosrawan is known for its Buddhist vestiges of Pala period. It is only 13 km away from Nalanda, which was a great centre of learning and art activities in early medieval period. Pala School of art flourished in the Bihar and Bengal from 8th to 13th centuries A.D. and it is exemplified by their fine sculptures, noted for their sensuous grace and dignity and few of them may be considered as rare art specimens of India. Carving of deities on both sides of stone slab termed as bifacial images. Bifacial images are extremely rare in Pala art. Only a few images of Surya- Narayana reported from Bihar under this category. In these sculptures Surya is depicted on one side and Visnu on reverse side. The image under discussion from Ghosrawan is unique for its kind. In the sculpture Uma-Mahesvara carved on one side and Visnu carved on reverse side, shows the synthesis of Siva and Visnu. It may consider second variety of syncretic image after Surya- Naryana in bifacial sculptures category. Thus recently noticed image from Ghosrawan not only rare of its kind but also throw the light on the development of syncretism, tolerance among the various sects of Hinduism and religious history of Nalanda region. Keywords: Ghosrawan, Uma-Maheshvara, Visnu, Syncretic, Bifacial, Surya-Narayana, Hari-Hara Introduction Village Ghosrawan (25° 5' N Lat., 85° 25' Long) is situated 12 Km south-east of Bihar Sharif and 13 Km east of Nalanda in block Giriyak, District Nalanda. It is in close proximity to the ancient sites of Nalanda, Tetrawan and Pavapuri. Ghosrawan is notable for its ancient ruins including fort, two mounds, tank and ancient sculptures. In 1848 AD Major Kittoe discovered the inscription which records erection of the Vajrasana Vihara by the monk Viradeva, who originally belonged to Nagarahara in Uttrapatha in the north-western frontier of the country (Patil 1963: 146- 147). He stayed for a long time in the Vihara at Yasovarmmapura where he was patronized by the Pala king Devapala and was consequently appointed to govern the monastic establishment of Nalanda (Patil 1963: 147). This Yasovarmmapura has been identified with modern village Ghosrawan (Sinha 2000: 43). ISSN 2347 – 5463 Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 4: 2016 Probably village have been named after the conqueror Yasovarmana of Kannauj, who defeated the king of Magadha and whose minister made gifts to the temple built by Baladitya in Nalanda (Sinha 2000 : 43). Sir A. Cunningham visited the site in the year 1861 (Cunningham 1994 a: 38-39), 1871- 72 (Cunningham 1994 b: 120) and 1878 (Cunningham 1994 c : 171-82), respectively and has recorded his observation in his reports. A.M. Broadley (1979: 58-67) noticed the ruins in 1872 and has given detailed description of the ruins and transcript of the inscription. The site contained a good number of sculptures, however some notable sculptures were shifted to various museums. Presently the village is situated on an elevated mound about 3 to 4 meters high from general ground level and surrounded by a low lying cultivated land. The entire village is occupied by the pucca and kaccha houses. A large number of loose sculptures have been unearthed from the village from time to time and the collections of sculptures are kept in Maa Ashapuri modern temple and Simhavahini sthan. The premises of the Maa Ashapuri temple abound with Brahmanical and Buddhist stone sculptures of Pala period whose iconographic wealth is still untapped. During my exploration work in Nalanda region, I noticed a bifacial stone image (Figs. 1-3) which is fixed on the top of enclosure wall beside the garbha griha of main temple. This art specimen is unique but unfortunately scholars had not paid desired attention to the sculpture. In the sculpture represents Uma-Mahesvara on the one side and Visnu on the other, exemplifying the syncretism of Saiva and Vaisnava pantheon. Few surface details are partially obfuscated by accretions of paste from puja rituals. On one side four armed Siva seated in lalitasana and Uma on his left side is shown seated on the left thigh of Siva. Siva holds a trident in one right hand while the other touches Uma’s chin. One of the left hand grasps the breast of the goddess while the second is holding kapala. Two armed goddess Uma encircles Siva’s neck with her right hand, while she holds a lotus in her left. The mounts bull and lion are shown below. Right foot of Siva rests on his vehicle bull. On the reverse side of the sculpture four armed Visnu standing in samabhanga pose on a double petalled lotus. He is decked with necklace, armlet, bracelet, sacred thread, long vanamala and waist girdle. He is holding gada in his upper right hand and lower right hand is in varada mudra. He holds chakra in the upper left hand and sankha in the lower left. The deity is flanked by Laxmi on the right side in tribhanga posture holding chauri in her right hand. The Goddess Saraswati on the left side also shown in tribhanga posture, holds vina with her both hands. Oval shaped back slab is shown with decorated border and a flying gandharva on either side holding a garland is depicted on the top portion. 608 Tiwari 2016: 607-610 Figure 1: Bifacial Image, front view, Figure 2: Bifacial Image, rear view facing the figure of Uma-Mahesvara, facing the figure of Visnu, Ghosrawan, Ghosrawan, black basalt, 9th Century AD. black basalt, 9th Century AD. Figure 3: Bifacial Image, side view, Ghosrawan, black basalt, 9th Century AD 609 ISSN 2347 – 5463 Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 4: 2016 The sculpture is made of black basalt and it is 55 cm high, 34 cm broad and 20 cm thick. On iconographic and stylistic grounds it may be dated to 9-10th century AD. Bifacial stone sculptures in Pala art are extremely rare. Only Surya-Narayana variety of bifacial images which represent Surya on the one side of the slab and Visnu on the other side are known to us. Two bifacial Surya-Narayana sculptures noticed by the author at village Chandimau district Nalanda (Tiwari 2004 : 257-259). Among them first image belong to post gupta i.e. sixth-seventh century A.D. and second is datable to Pala period i.e. 9th century AD. Another bifacial image of Surya Narayana image is preserved in Indian Museum Kolkata (Champakalakshmi 1981 : 266). Uma-Mahesvara and Visnu are the most common subject in the Brahamanical art of Magadha region during Pala period. In the Brahamanical faith Siva and Visnu are worshiped individually as well as in combination. The syncretic image of Siva and Visnu is known as Hari-Hara. The aim of the sculptor in the case of Ghosrawan image was showing the synthesis of between Siva and Visnu. Thus the bifacial image of Uma Mahesvara-Visnu may be considered as a new type of syncretic Brahmanial image. So it is a rare art specimen of Pala period and have great iconographical significance and helpful to understand study of development of syncretism. It is not proves only great imaginative power and innovative skill of sculptors of Pala period but also the tradition of communal harmony in Nalanda region. References Broadley, A. M., 1979, The Buddhistic Remains of Bihar (reprint), Bharti Prakashan, Varanasi Champakalakshmi, R., 1981, Vaisnava iconography in the Tamil Country, Orient Longman, New Delhi. Cunningham, A., 1994a, Archaeological Survey of India Report, Vol.I (reprint), Rahul Publishing House, Delhi Cunningham, A., 1994b, Archaeological Survey of India Report, Vol. III, Rahul Publishing House, Delhi Cunningham, A., 1994c, Archaeological Survey of India Report, Vol. XI, Rahul Publishing House, Delhi Patil, D.R., 1963, The Antiquarian Remains in Bihar, Kashi Prasad Jayaswal Research Institue, Patna. Sinha, B. P., 2000, Directory of Bihar Archaeology, Bihar Puravid Parisad, Patna. Tiwari, J.K. 2004, Two rare Surya- Narayana sculptures from Chandimau, Pragdhara. No. 14, U.P. State Archaeology Department, Lucknow. 610 .