Here, four-armed Vishnu is represented as reclining upon the coils of Sheshanaga (the cosmic serpent) in the Kshira- sagar (ocean of milk) and supporting his head with one hand in the customary fashion, as if to suggest his momentary arousal from the sleep during which got slayed the demons Madhu and Kaitabha, shown in the upper right portion. A conch shell is held in one of his left hands with the other holding the stalk of the lotus issuing from his navel and forming the seat of Brahma. The free right hand holds a rosary, as held by other Vishnu images of this area from the Gupta period. The image seems significantly placed, since the river waters serve to remind of the primeval ocean, while the rock metaphorically becomes the floating firmament created just before the creator resumed his cosmic slumber. The sculpture is iconographically remarkable in several ways. Here Vishnu is depicted as holding the stalk of the lotus upon which Brahma, usually depicted with three heads (the fourth behind deemed as invisible), is represented with only one head, while Lakshmi, Ayudhapurushas and other accessory figures are conspicuous by their absence. Instead of a Kiritamukuta, the conventional head-dress of Vishnu, here jatamukuta decorated with a rosary, yet another rarity, are together skilfully suggestive of a meditative mood as in the sculpture at Udayagiri near Vidisha. Artistically, the figure appears to be a handiwork of the Gupta artist. Importantly, Sheshashayi images are generally rare in Northern India, with the terracotta plaque on the Bhitargaon temple (5th century A.D.) and the sculpted relief at Dashavtara temple, Deogarh (6th century A.D.), being the only known examples from the Gupta period.

To be continued....