Image title: Plate 17: Kalyana Sundara

[Full title: Kalyana Sundara, Vijayanagara, Lepakshi, 16th century]

The scene of Śiva as Kalyāṇasundara (Kalyana-sundara), with Pārvatī as his bride. There is a gathering of sages and women. Brahmā officiates as priest. This may be compared with a similar one from the ceiling of the Nāṭyamaṇḍapa. In the Vijayanagara period, the marriage of Rāma and Sītā, Draupadī and Arjuna, Śiva and Pārvatī, all become a type with kalpavṛkṣa tree in between the bride and groom assuring them the most pleasing married life with all that desire can wish for assured for them. [...]

Again it becomes a little more stylised in the Gurjara Pratīhāra sculpture from Rājasthān of the ninth century now in the National Museum and a similar one but with a larger group composed from the Bhārat Kāla Bhawan of the tenth century A.D. Kalyāṇasundara in metal with Viṣṇu and Lakṣmī giving her away to Śiva is a magnificent Chola bronze in the Tañjāvur Art Gallery.

Gallery information:

This plate is contained in the book “Vijayanagara Paintings”, a valuable aid to the understanding of Indian iconography (also known as śilpaśāstra). The Vijayanagara empire was established in 1335 by Harihara, Harihara, Kaṃpa and Bukka (sons of Saṅgama) and grew to be a dominant power in the South. Painting has been considered in the Citrasūtra of the Viṣṇudharmottara, the early standard text on painting, as the premier art.