Early Brahmanical Cults and Associated Iconography (C. 400 B.C. to A.D. 600)

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About the Book The present work attempts to study the development of Brahmanical Cults and Associated Iconography (c. 400 B.C. to A.D. 600). In this connection an in depth study of the sources both literary as well as archaeological have been made. The development of the Brahmanical cults have been traced in chronological order for the first time which goes to show how the cults reached from their formative stages to the climax in 600 A.D.

It also discuss the Iconographic treatises written for making the perfect images of cult deities. It discusses Vaiṣṇava, Śaiva, Mother-goddess and others include Yakṣas, Nagas, Kinnaras, Gandharvas in detailed form, besides throws light on the concept of the Rituals, Pūjā and Temples.

About the Author Dr. Richa Sikri has done post graduation from Kumaun University in 1992, and Ph. D. from Kurukshetra University in 1997. She is recipient of ICHR fellowship and also qualified NET examination conducted by UGC. Presently she is working as a lecturer in History in Pt. A. R. S. D. College, Baroh Distt., Kangra, (H. P.).

Foreword It is indeed a pleasure for me to write a foreward to this book on Early Brahmanical Cults and Associated Iconography by Dr. Richa Sikri who has made significant contribution in the field of Indian religion and art.

Earlier studies on ancient Indian art are mostly related to iconography. identifications of forms and their co-relation with textual details. And as such these deal with only one aspect of art and throw little light on cultic developments. In the present study Dr. Sikri has studied archaeological and literary sources to reconstruct the growth of the Brahmanical cults in a chronological framework highlighting the historical development stages. She has rightly pointed out that the Brahmanical cults and their iconography is an outcome of a long gestation of ideas. The higher cults initially has a humble beginning at folk level. With the passage of time through patronage and followings, assimilation and absorption the folk cults acquired complex identity. This process began around c. 400 BC and was completed by AD 600. The visual forms found in the Gupta art and iconographic features detailed in contemporary texts amply prove it. The mode of worship (rituals and temples) also, tell the same story.

The work of Dr. Sikri has served as an important fill-up in the field of the study of ancient Indian religion and art, which I hope, will go a long way to inspire further researches in this direction. I congratulate Dr. Richa Sikri for her researches.

Introduction All the worldly as well as spiritual progress is the outcome of human desire to know. Man has conquered the space, earth and sea but is not able to know how the world came into existence and who moves it on. This search for ultimate has led him into the realm of "Religion' ie. the belief in some supernatural power which is styled as God. Various types of ideas about the deity or god has given birth to cults and cult practices. In the times of calamity and distress the man has found answers and solace and has approached for protection and blessing to the deity of his choice. The changes in socio-economic and cultural life have affected the origin, growth and decline of various cults in the past societies.

The history of the development of religious cults in India began from the proto historic times. The existence of a few deities, both malevolent and benevolent. is traceable in the relics of the Harappan Civilization. The Vedic literature attests that as many as thirty three deities were known at that time. The Brahmanas complicated the rituals centering around the deities. And every one was craving for some simpler form of worship. The solutions were sought which we find in the philosophy of the Upanisads heralding a social as well as intellectual revolt against the existing environment.

The emergence of two heterodox sects, Buddhism and Jainism, during the six century B.C. made the revolt more vigorous. The main motive of these sects was to free the society from the clutches of Vedic practices, and show them simpler ways of religious life. All these upheavals forced Brahmanism to change its mode and form to survive. The sustenance of it was in less ritualistic as well as less intelligible ways towards religion. This actually brought forth the notion of cult practices, the seeds of which had earlier been sown in proto-historic India.

A cult is basically a form or system of worship centered around a deity of one's own choice and can be called a religious cult when it gets wedded to the vitality of philosophy and metaphysics. The cult practices, which started with the folk divinities the Yaksas and Yaksis, Nagas and Nagis, reached to its highest watermarks with the emergence of the great gods and goddesses viz.