Please wait, while we are loading the content...
Please wait, while we are loading the content...
Content Provider | Indian Culture |
---|---|
Organization | National Museum, New Delhi |
Spatial Coverage | Deogarh, Uttar Pradesh |
Temporal Coverage | Ancient |
Description | This remarkable stone sculpture depicting Lakshman disfiguring Surpanakha belongs to the Gupta Period and dates back to the 5th century. It finds its origin in Deogarh, Uttar Pradesh. It is 82 cm in height and 56.5 cm in width. This artefact is currently on display in the Gupta Gallery inside the National Museum, New Delhi. Historical Significance :- Some of the Gupta kings proclaimed themselves as Bhagavatas who are the worshippers of Vasudeva Krishna. The links and associations between different Hindu deities emerge clearly in the sculptural programs of many temples. The Garuda became the emblem of the Gupta emperors since it was believed to be associated with Vishnu and from the times of Chandragupta II, the Gupta kings had the title Parama Bhagavata in their inscriptions. Artistic Significance :- This striking sculpture made of stone represents a story from the Ramayana. The sculpture depicts four figures. The one on the extreme left is Lord Rama who is seated peacefully and is holding on to his bow and arrow and yet not taking any part in the violence happening on the other side of the sculpture. He has a large sacred thread (called a janeyu) going across his body and he is shown wearing a lot of jewellery which subtly hints at the fact that he belonged to a royal family. In the centre of the sculpture is Sita who seems to be covering herself with her hand which is a sign of modesty and grace. On the left side of the sculpture is Lakshmana, Rama’s younger brother, holding a large sword in one hand and Surpanakha by her hair with the other hand. He is shown cutting off her nose which is depicted to be chipped off in this sculpture. Spiritual Significance :- "The worship of Vishnu avatars became increasingly popular under Gupta patronage. The avatars came to be conventionally counted as ten, out of which three were divine, namely Narayana, Narsimha and Vamana whereas the other seven were human. The seven human avatars include Dattatreya, Mandhatri, Rama (son of Jamadagni), Rama (son of Dasharatha), Vedavyasa, Buddha and Kalki. This sculpture depicts one of the stories from the life of Rama, the son of Dasharatha. The spiritual significance of the Ramayana can be indicated by its popularity and by the fact that there exist multiple versions of Rama story other than the most popular i.e. Valmiki’s Ramayana. A 12th century Tamil version by Kamban called the Ramavataram and a Buddhist version called the Dasaratha Jataka in Pali are a few of the versions of the Ramayana. There are also innumerable oral versions of the story. The Rama legend enjoys popularity across other parts of Asia including Tibet, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Indonesia. All these versions have a different story structure in terms of the beginning and ending alongside characters and events shaped differently." Stories and Legends :- As per Ramayana, Surpanakha, Ravana’s widowed sister, comes across Lord Rama during her visit to Panchvati forest and immediately ends up falling in love with him. She disguises herself as a beautiful woman utilizing the power of Maya (illusion). She reaches Rama and he enquires about her. She praises Ram’s masculine beauty and asks him to marry her. He refuses and tells her that he is loyal to his wife Sita. Surpanakha, in a fit of anger, makes abusive remarks about Sita and threatens to eat her. Lakshman comes to Sita’s defence and cuts off Surpanakha’s nose in rage. Style :- Gupta This remarkable stone sculpture depicting Lakshman disfiguring Surpanakha belongs to the Gupta Period and dates back to the 5th century. It finds its origin in Deogarh, Uttar Pradesh. It is 82 cm in height and 56.5 cm in width. This artefact is currently on display in the Gupta Gallery inside the National Museum, New Delhi. Historical Significance |
File Format | JPG / JPEG |
Language | English |
Publisher | National Museum |
Access Restriction | Open |
Subject Keyword | Gupta Period Lakshman disfiguring Surpanakha Stone Sculpture Bhagavatas |
Content Type | Image |
Resource Type | Photograph |
National Digital Library of India (NDLI) is a virtual repository of learning resources which is not just a repository with search/browse facilities but provides a host of services for the learner community. It is sponsored and mentored by Ministry of Education, Government of India, through its National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT). Filtered and federated searching is employed to facilitate focused searching so that learners can find the right resource with least effort and in minimum time. NDLI provides user group-specific services such as Examination Preparatory for School and College students and job aspirants. Services for Researchers and general learners are also provided. NDLI is designed to hold content of any language and provides interface support for 10 most widely used Indian languages. It is built to provide support for all academic levels including researchers and life-long learners, all disciplines, all popular forms of access devices and differently-abled learners. It is designed to enable people to learn and prepare from best practices from all over the world and to facilitate researchers to perform inter-linked exploration from multiple sources. It is developed, operated and maintained from Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur.
Learn more about this project from here.
NDLI is a conglomeration of freely available or institutionally contributed or donated or publisher managed contents. Almost all these contents are hosted and accessed from respective sources. The responsibility for authenticity, relevance, completeness, accuracy, reliability and suitability of these contents rests with the respective organization and NDLI has no responsibility or liability for these. Every effort is made to keep the NDLI portal up and running smoothly unless there are some unavoidable technical issues.
Ministry of Education, through its National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT), has sponsored and funded the National Digital Library of India (NDLI) project.
Sl. | Authority | Responsibilities | Communication Details |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education |
Sanctioning Authority | https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives |
2 | Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur | Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project | https://www.iitkgp.ac.in |
3 | National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur | The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project | Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in |
4 | Project PI / Joint PI | Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project |
Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon |
5 | Website/Portal (Helpdesk) | Queries regarding NDLI and its services | support@ndl.gov.in |
6 | Contents and Copyright Issues | Queries related to content curation and copyright issues | content@ndl.gov.in |
7 | National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club) | Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach | clubsupport@ndl.gov.in |
8 | Digital Preservation Centre (DPC) | Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books | dpc@ndl.gov.in |
9 | IDR Setup or Support | Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops | idr@ndl.gov.in |