A uniquely interesting ‘panchaloha’ bronze image created in the ‘madhuchista vidhana’ lost wax technique is this anthropomorphic form of Vishnu’s powerful weapon (and the wheel of time), the Sudarshana Chakra. The anthropomorphic form – or ‘Ayudhapurusha,’ meaning the human manifestation of a divine weapon – began being prominently depicted with the rise of Tantrism, and the personification of the discus was associated with the Pala era and the Vrishnis. It is however with the Chakra Purusha that laid down the details regarding the independent worship of Chakraperumal along with the image of Vishnu.
As is detailed in the text, the ‘sthpati’ here has presented a double-sided image of Narasimha and Sudarshan. The four-armed half-man, half-lion avatar of Vishnu, responsible for the vanquishment of the demon Hiranyakashipu, is presented in a seated yogic posture (over the hood of Sheshnag) with a ‘yogapatti’ wrapped around his thighs to keep his posture erect. His four hands carry the ‘sudarshana chakra.’ On the other side we have the sixteen-handed personification of Sudarshan carrying various attributes of Vishnu. This Sudarshana-Narasimha image is enclosed within a circular rim of fire. The inscribed hexagram – ‘shat-kona-chakra’ – denotes the wheel of time and developing from the ideas of tantric cults and the Garuda Purana, the flames symbolise the wrathful power the Sudarshan Chakra provided a king to defeat his enemies with. In fact, much like how Nataraja’s hair represents the flow of Ganga, Sudarshan’s flaming hair represent the flow of his destructive energy. The elaborate image is poised on the back of two fearsome lions, possibly as the mount of the Chakrathalvar.
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