Second largest Vishnu idol in Bihar
By Pranava K Chaudhary, TNN
The Times of India
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Patna - The largest idol of Lord Vishnu in North India has
been spotted at Samas village in Sheikhpura district. The
Bihar State Board of Religious Trusts has urged the state
government to construct a mini-Tirupati temple in the
village on the pattern of the one at Tirupati in Andhra
Pradesh.
The idol is made of black granite and measures 7.5 feet in
length and 3.5 feet in width. It belongs to the Gupta
period and was recovered during the excavation of an old
village tank in 1992. Its four arms carry a "sankh
(conch)", a "chakra (discus)", a "gada (club)" and a "padma
(lotus)".
The idol has been installed in a makeshift temple on a
sprawling 15-bigha campus of the tank. Samas village is
located five km from Barbigha subdivision town and 25 km
from Biharsharif. This village appears to be a great centre
of iconography because a large number of idols have been
recovered from here and its neighbouring regions in the
recent years.
There are two figures -- one masculine and another feminine
-- below the left and right arms of the idol. An idol of
Goddess Laxmi was also recovered during the excavation but
it was stolen about 40 years back.
Former IPS officer and administrator of Bihar State Board
of Religious Trusts Kishore Kunal spotted the idol a couple
of days back.
"Very few idols of Lord Vishnu in the country are as large
as this one. The idol of Lord Venkatesh, the presiding
deity at famous Tirupati temple, is about 9 feet tall. Yet
another
Vishnu's idol recovered from south is on display at the
National Museum in New Delhi," Kunal said.
More at:
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