Magha Shuddha Saptami, the seventh day before Purnima of the month of Magh, is celebrated as Ratha Saptami. The Sun God is believed to turn his chariot towards north on this day and it is also popularly called Surya Jayanti and Magha Saptami.
In all ancient civilisations, worship of the Sun and depiction in plastic form have been recorded in the form of sculptures and paintings. Indians have been worshipping the Sun since the Vedic age. The Rig Veda’s 10th mandala has illustrated details about the Adityas, who are synonymous with Surya. The Shatapatha Brahmana, Siva Purana and Bhagavata Purana have stories connected to the birth of the Adityas. There are 12 Adityas, who are the children of Kashyapa and Aditi. They are Yama, Aryaman, Indra, Ravi, Varuna, Dhatr, Bhaga, Savitr, Surya, Amsa, Mitra and Daksha as per the Shatapatha Brahmana. The Vishnu Purana has Vishnu and Pushan instead of Yama and Daksha. The Sun, pivotal in all aspects of life, is praised even through the Gayatri Mantra.
The texts speak about Surya’s iconography in detail. He has a ratha driven by seven horses with Aruni as charioteer. He is accompanied by Usha and Pratyusha, who would shoot arrows of rays. He is also depicted with Chaya and Prabha. Their duty is to create shadow and light, with which Surya would create the day and night. He has two attendants Danda and Pingala, always shown with interesting attributes. Danda would be depicted with a staff or sword and shield while Pingala has a pen and an ink pot. It is to be noted that many ancient ruling families claimed to have belonged to the solar race or Surya’s clan. Surya as the form of Vishnu has been known as Surya Narayana.
Surya as Marthanda is an important associate divinity in the Kalamukha Saiva School. In panchayatana— the five groups of the premier divinities (Siva, Vishnu, Ganapatya, Devi and Surya)—the Saura group forms a genre of the Aditya cult. Surya is portrayed as the first nakshatra in the constellation and first among the Navagrahas. In Yogasana, Surya Namaskara is one of the very important parts.
In India, the depiction of Surya perhaps first appeared in a Buddhist context. Surya images mounted on a chariot with horses were depicted in Barhut stupa and Bhaja chaitya in relief sculpture. In North India, Surya is depicted with two-armed seated and standing forms; he has mostly been portrayed with a moustache and heavy footwear. Such examples are found in the Kushana and subsequent periods.
Surya worship became popular in the Badami Chalukya period (543–757 CE). The Early Chalukyas built a good number of temples dedicated to Aditya-Surya. The Aditya cult appears to have been practised and patronised by Pulakeshi II (610–642 CE). He used the name Aditya as a prefix or suffix for the names of his sons—Adityavaraman, Chandraditya and Vikramaditya. Badami Chalukya kings who came later also had the name Aditya. It also was a common feature in the Kalyan Chalukya period, for instance the king Vikramaditya VI.
A majority of the temples built at Aihole were dedicated to Surya. The Durga, Lad Khan, Suryanarayana and Badiger Gudi Temples were dedicated to the Sun God. The Malegitti Sivalaya in Badami (c. 630 CE) was also dedicated to Aditya. These have been identified by scholar Dr Srinivas Padigar of Dharwad as Aditya temples based on sculptural evidence. The figures of Aditya depicted on the shikhara, lalata pattika (architrave), garbhagriha and pillars of these temples help in this identification. Besides these, Surya also has been depicted slaying Chaya in the Malegitti Sivalaya and Aihole’s Durga Temple (c. 600 CE). The myth says that Chaya could not sustain the heat of Surya and ran away from him, and disguised herself as half horse and half female. Having found his beloved Chaya in this form, he forced her to join him back. The image depicted here portrays Surya with the zooanthropomorphic form of Chaya, which is not only rare but also an important iconographic development.
Surya in samabhanga as an idol for worship is installed in temples. A standing Surya will have lotus flowers in both hands folded upward. He is depicted with two arms and in the case of Surya Narayana, there would be four arms. The serpent would also be depicted along with a prabhavali (halo). Surya sculptures were installed during the Chalukya period in Aihole’s Suryanarayana temple (c. 640 CE, it is near the Durga temple). Surya standing in samabhanga holds lotus flowers in both the hands, while his prabhavali has attendant figures.
Besides the free standing idols, the images are also used as ceiling panels. One such fine example is at the Virupaksha temple in Pattadakal. The image is carved in a square composition; Surya stands in a ratha accompanied by his consorts Usha and Pratyusha, who are shooting arrows. The retinue are airborne and depicted as constituent figures. The assistant figures are giving their obeisance to Surya in artistic postures. The sculpture was carved by the artist Devaputra (734 CE).
After the Badami Chalukyas, the Gangas of Talakadu patronised Surya worship. A large sculpture, now preserved in the Srirangapatna museum, depicts Surya in samabhanga with lotus in both the hands. He has Danda and Pingala as his dwarapalas. This is one of the largest Surya sculptures of the period. Kalyan Chalukya and Hoysala sculptors created more elaborate and refined sculptures, with Dashavatara and Ashta Vasu images, and also sometimes Ashta Dikpalaka images carved on the prabhavalis. Surya worship is an important part of Indian spirituality, and the belief continues even today in the form of the current celebrations.
R H Kulkarni
Professor, Dept of Art History, College of Fine Arts, Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath
(rhkulkarniarthistory@gmail.com)