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King Narasiṁha I Before his Spiritual Preceptor
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 March 2011
Extract
The collection of Indian sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum includes a fine relief from Koṇārka. It is about 2 feet 6¾ inches (78·1 cm.) in height and depicts King Narasiṁha I (a.d. 1238–64), the founder of the celebrated Sun temple at Koṇārka in Orissa, sitting at the feet of his spiritual preceptor (Plate I). Acquired in the 19th century, this relief, which is carved in carboniferous shale, was long believed to be Nepalese. Havell, writing in 1911, notes that this sculpture is “said to have come from Nepal. Its date is uncertain. It appears to represent a Vaishnava adaptation of some old Buddhist jātaka story.” Some years later it was realized that the style of this sculpture belonged to that of the Eastern Ganga of the 13th century a.d., and that it represented the conversion of a kṣatriya noble to the worship of Viṣṇu by a Vaiṣṇava priest. The figure of the warrior sitting at the feet of the priest was identified as that of Narasimha I receiving spiritual instruction from his guru. This relief is one of a number showing scenes from the life of Narasimha which come from the great Koṇārka temple dedicated by him to the sun-god Sūrya. Of these, the panel already mentioned and another in New Delhi throw an interesting light on Narasiṃha's religious beliefs.
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References
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2 Personal communication, 11th May, 1966. This sculpture is one of several known reliefs, each very similar, showing King Narasiṁha I worshipping the Purī triad. The second is in the new museum at Koṇārka. The third, now badly damaged, is still on the side of the platform of the main temple at Koṇārka. K. S. Behera has informed me that the fourth relief is in the great temple at Purī. See Debala Mitra, “Notes on Konārak”, JASB, III, no. 2, 1961, 59–60.
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