God Surya Introduction:

Lord Surya is the god of the Sun. He is the ruler of the planets and one of the Adityas (son of Aditi).

Sculpture Information:

The sculpture of standing Lord Surya is currently placed at the Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) of Singapore. The statue belongs to India and is from the Pala-Sena Dynasty period i.e. circa 11th century.

Surya sculpture follows the Brihat Samhita of Varaha Mihira (c. 505–587), a Hindu text that describes architecture, iconography and design guidelines, which states that Surya should be shown with two hands and wearing a crown. he is holding Padma (lotus) in both hands.

Two females are shown flanking him, who represent the dawn goddesses named Usha and Pratyusha.

Surya’s two wives Sanjana and Chhaya are shown to be shooting arrows, a symbol of their initiative to challenge darkness.

At the bottom of the sculpture, Aruna, who is the chariot driver of Surya, is seated and is controlling seven horses.

Besides primary deities, we can see the flying Gandharvas above flanking the god with garlands. Two dwarpalas are standing near Surya with their maces. We can see musicians with Veena and other instruments near Surya’s lotuses.

There are two Gaja-Simha idols on each side and lions are shown on the top of Elephants.

The top part of the statue is ornamented with Makara Torana.