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The Planets (Navagraha) Lintel (Worcester Art Museum, 1923.5)

Hindu Art

A yellow sandstone temple lintel from Uttar Pradesh, Central India, carved circa 550 to 575 CE, of a type set over temple entrances in northern and central India to invoke the nine planetary deities for good fortune. Eight figures survive, left to right: Surya the sun wearing a jeweled headdress and holding lotuses, Chandra the moon, Budha (Mercury), Shukra (Venus), Mangala (Mars), Brihaspati (Jupiter), Shani (Saturn), and the demon Rahu, the rising lunar node, rendered here grinning and radiant rather than menacing. Ketu, the ninth planetary figure and the descending lunar node, is missing from the surviving stone. Purchased by the Worcester Art Museum from Bourgeois Galleries, New York, in 1923.

Facts
Physical Form
Medium
Yellow sandstone relief 1
Origins
Creation
550 to 575 CE 1
Country
India 1
Region
Uttar Pradesh 1
Custody
Current Location
Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts, accession number 1923.5 1
Current Custodian
Worcester Art Museum 1
Attributions
Tradition
Hinduism 1
Subject Matter
Depicted Subject
Eight of the nine Navagraha planetary deities: Surya, Chandra, Budha, Shukra, Mangala, Brihaspati, Shani and Rahu. Ketu does not survive on this lintel. 1
Classification
Object Type
Sculpture or Statuary 1
Medium (class)
Sculpture 1
Connections

Associated With

Ketu, Deities

This source names Ketu directly: "and radiant rather than menacing. Ketu, the ninth planetary figure and the descending lunar node, is missing from the surviving stone."

Source The Planets (Navagraha), Object Record (Worcester Art Museum)
Mercury, Deities

This source names Mercury directly: "lotuses, Chandra the moon, Budha (Mercury), Shukra (Venus), Mangala (Mars), Brihaspati (Jupiter), Shani (Saturn), and the demon Rahu, the rising lunar node, rendered here grinning and radiant rather..."

Source The Planets (Navagraha), Object Record (Worcester Art Museum)
Surya, Deities

This source names Surya directly: "Eight figures survive, left to right: Surya the sun wearing a jeweled headdress and holding lotuses, Chandra the moon, Budha (Mercury), Shukra (Venus), Mangala (Mars), Brihaspati (Jupiter), Shani..."

Source The Planets (Navagraha), Object Record (Worcester Art Museum)
Uttar Pradesh, Regions

This source names Uttar Pradesh directly: "A yellow sandstone temple lintel from Uttar Pradesh, Central India, carved circa 550 to 575 CE, of a type set over temple entrances in northern and central India to invoke the nine planetary deities..."

Source The Planets (Navagraha), Object Record (Worcester Art Museum)

Belongs to Tradition

Hinduism, Religions

Derived: this work depicts a figure already recorded as belonging to this tradition; the work-to-tradition link is inferred from that live depicts edge and the figures own attested tradition affiliation, not independently sourced beyond it.

Depicts

Brihaspati, Deities
Source The Planets (Navagraha), Object Record (Worcester Art Museum)
Budha, Deities
Source The Planets (Navagraha), Object Record (Worcester Art Museum)
Chandra, Deities
Source The Planets (Navagraha), Object Record (Worcester Art Museum)
Mangala, Deities
Source The Planets (Navagraha), Object Record (Worcester Art Museum)
Rahu, Deities
Source The Planets (Navagraha), Object Record (Worcester Art Museum)
Shani, Deities
Source The Planets (Navagraha), Object Record (Worcester Art Museum)
Shukra, Deities
Source The Planets (Navagraha), Object Record (Worcester Art Museum)
The Navagraha, Deities
Source The Planets (Navagraha), Object Record (Worcester Art Museum)

Originated In

India, Regions
Source The Planets (Navagraha), Object Record (Worcester Art Museum)
Uttar Pradesh, Regions
Source The Planets (Navagraha), Object Record (Worcester Art Museum)
Sources
1. The Planets (Navagraha), Object Record (Worcester Art Museum)
Worcester Art Museum
  • catalogue record, medium/object-type description
    A yellow sandstone temple lintel from Uttar Pradesh, Central India, carved circa 550 to 575 CE, of a type set over temple entrances in northern and central India to invoke the nine planetary deities for good fortune.
  • Originated In: Uttar Pradesh, Stored region property on this entity, cited to this source: Uttar Pradesh
  • Originated In: India, Stored country property on this entity, cited to this source: India
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