An artistic reminder

It is a symbol of the halcyon days of one of the greatest empires in Indian history. The idol of Balakrishna that once adorned the Krishna temple at Hampi, is a reminder of the glorious days of the Vijaynagar empire. The idol now greets visitors at the entrance of the Government Museum, Chennai.

It is believed that King Krishna Deva Raya took the idol from Udayagiri (Nellore district) and installed it at the Krishna temple at Hampi to commemorate his victorious campaign against the Gajapati King of Ganjam (Orissa), King Prataparudra. The king built a special mandapa for it in the Krishna temple, built by him at Vijaynagar (Hampi). Of course, the temple is in ruins after Hampi was ransacked in 1565 AD after the Battle of Tallikota (Rakshasi-Tangadi to be accurate), when the Vijaynagar army was defeated.

Researchers, after in-depth study of various inscriptions found in Hampi, have concluded that the year of installation of the statue must have been 1515 AD.

The idol is made of a single stone. It shows Krishna as a young boy, "seated with left leg on the seat and right hanging down." Both the hands are missing except for the fingers of the left hand. The hair is arranged in a knot over his head and his large earrings are shaped like small sankhas (conch). The statue is 95 cm high, 50 cm long and 39 cm wide (a recent measurement). A chain with tiger claws (pulinagam) and another chain with a pendant are also seen. Also noticed on the figure are other adornments like udarabhandha (wrapped around the stomach), channavira (chest ornament), katibandha with kinkinis (a waist chain with bells), padasaras (type of anklets) and tandai (an ankle ornament worn by warriors).

The eyes are big which conforms more to the Pallava/Kalinga iconography, the nose is slightly disfigured while the Vaishnavite U-shaped mark on Krishna's forehead reminds one more of the Orissa culture of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

Confusion in dates and the cause of events like the date of the installation of the idol or whether the temple or only the mandapa was built to install it, are endemic to Indian history. Triangulation with astronomical data often helps remove them.

A comforting thought is that not just kings and their statues, but even idols of gods associated with them, sometimes fade into oblivion.

R. KANNAN

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