Prof. Dr. Klaus Bruhn
The paper was published in Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute 20 (S.K. De Felicitation Volume), Poona 1960, pp. 164-248.
Distinction in Indian Iconography
Appendix B: Explanation of Terms
Abhayamudrā | Particular pose of the hand, indicating protection. |
Ācārya | Spiritual teacher. |
Āmalaka | “Flat fluted melon-shaped member usually at the summit of the Indo-Aryan type of śikhara or spire" (P. Brown); the āmalaka appears also as the knob of maces etc. |
Āsana | (a) Sitting posture (b) synonym of vāhana (see Appendix A). [1] |
Avasarpiṇī | (In Jain dogmatics:) descending period, period of decline; alternating with the ascending period (utsarpiṇī). The present period in our part of the world is an avasarpiṇī. |
Cakra | Discus or sharp circular missile weapon, esp. that of Viṣṇu-Kṛṣṇa. The (dharma)cakra of Buddhism and Jainism is a religious symbol. Both, cakra and dharmacakra, are represented in the form of a wheel with spokes. |
Caturmukhaliṅga | Liṅga with four human busts carved on it (fig. 58). |
Chowrie | Fly-whisk (Skt. Cāmarī). |
Cihna | Identifying symbol carved on the pedestals of Jina images (e.g. the bull as the cihna of the first Jina Ṛṣabha). If taken in a wider sense it may mean any identifying object which is carved on the pedestal of an image. There is, however, no clear-cut line of demarcation between vāhanas and cihnas. |
Cikurāvalī | “Row of hairs”, here used as a technical term for that portion of Ṛṣabha's hair which remained on his head after he became a monk. |
Composite icons | See §§ 34-36 and 59. - composite icons have normally been written with a hyphon (e.g. Hari-Hara). Ardhanārīśvara is a combination of Śiva (proper right half of the figure) and Pārvatī (proper left half of the figure). |
Ḍamaru | Sort of drum. |
Dhyānamudrā | Particular pose of the hand, indicating meditation. |
Dvārapāla | Door-keeper. |
Ekamukhaliṅga | Liṅga with one human head carved on it. |
Garbhagṛha | Sanctum. |
Jaṭā | Braid of hair. |
Jaṭāmaṇḍala | See fig. 48. |
Jaṭāmukuṭa | See figs. 62, 59, 60. |
Kaṭi° | Kaṭy-avalambita-hasta, i.e. hand resting on the loins. |
Khaṭvāṅga | “A curious sort of club, made up of the forearm or the leg, to the end of which a human skull is attached through its foramen” (Rao). |
Liṅga | Phallus (of Śiva). |
Makara | Sea-monster; in its earliest iconographic form a crocodile, later on always a hybrid animal. |
Mudrā | Pose Of the hand. |
Mukuṭa | Tall crown. |
Mūrti | Image; often in final composition:.e.g. Andhakāsuravadhamūrti = an image representing Śiva as slaying the demon Andhaka. |
Parikara | “Entourage, girdle”; in Jain iconography those elements of the composition which surround the main figure. |
Pedestal | Portion of image below the figure proper. |
Prabhāmaṇḍala | Halo surrounding the head. |
Prabhāvalī | According to Rao a halo which surrounds the whole body (I, I, terms, p. 32); prabhāmaṇḍala is also used in this latter sense (§ 59). |
pradakṣiṇāpatha | Processional passage round the sanctum. |
Ṛṣi | Sage; ascetic in general. |
Siṁhāsana | Throne with feet in the form of lions. |
Śiraścakra | Halo “attached to the back of the head of images by means of a rod” (Rao); found with bronze images. |
Suṣamā | (In Jain dogmatics:) second subdivision of an avasarpiṇī and last but one subdivision of an utsarpiṇī. |
Trimūrti | See § 35 and fig. 55. |
Ūrdhvaliṅga | Ithypallic. |
Uṣṇīṣa | Excrescence on the heads of Buddhas and Jinas. |
Varadamudrā | Particular pose of the hand, indicating bestowal. |
Vimāna | That part of the temple which contains the sanctum and supports the spire or śikhara. |
Vīnā | Musical instrument (kind of lute). |