About the Book

Brahma the foremost among the gods of Hindu trinity is essentially a Vedic god who is celebrated in Rgvedic text by various epithets. As Prajapati, he is called the creator and identified with Hiranyagarbha, he symbolises the Principle of Rest. Yaska, author of the Nirukta describes Brahma as the source of all wisdom.

In sculpture, Brahma is portrayed in various ways. The most common feature is the reliefs of Brahma on temple walls which depict him as four faced, with four arms holding a sruva. a book, a rosary through his fingers and a kamandala. He wears a sacred thread and beneath him there is the sacred swan, his vahana.

The present work consists of twenty four chapters in which the author focusses of the various aspects of Brahmanical legends and his composite forms in stone, metal, ivory and wood carvings. Brahma in pantings .and textiles terracotta art, seals, sealings and numismatics and epigraphical records has been elaborately represented.

Brahma, through exotic eyes is another remarkable feature of this work which transcends the barriers of space and time.

The Image of Brahma as along with his cult, worship, and temples of South-East, Asia land grace to the work which recall the distinctive future of the author's fruitful art of writing on divine themes.

About the Author

The author having served in the curatorial capacity in the Central Asian Antiquities Museum, New Delhi, the Nalanda Museum and Archaeological Section of the Indian Museum, Calcutta, was credited with the scientific documentation of over fifty thousand antiquities comparing sculptures, bronzes, terracottas, beads, seals and sealings, wood work, paintings, textiles and Pearce collection of Gems, ranging from the earliest times to the late medieval period.

Besides publishing bilingually, three publications of the Archaeological Survey of India, he has also brought out the works entitled: (1) Mahisasuramardini in Indian Art, (2) The Universal Mother, (3) The composite Deities in Indian Art, (4) Garuda the Celestial Bird (5) The Indian Monoliths (6) The Cult of Vinayaka (7) Jatakas in Indian Art (8) The Temples of Himachal Pradesh. He was awarded a fellowship by the Indian Council of Historical Research, in 1987, for his last mentioned work. His other works in press include :- (i) Siva in Indian Art, Thought and literature (ii) Mahisasuramardini (Hindi) In addition to above, his works entitled (1) The Svastika, (2) The Cult of Surya in India are in the pipeline.