Indian and Himalayan Art Surya, the Sun GodMade in West Bengal,
India, Asia or Bengal, Bangladesh, Asia Pala-Sena Dynasty
(750-1100), c. 12th century Artist/maker unknown, Bengali |Gift
of Mrs. N. R. Norton, Mrs. Richard Waln Meirs, Mrs. Edwin N.
Benson, Jr., and Mrs. William A. M. Fuller in memory of Mrs.
Jones Wister, 1927| LabelThe solar deity Surya probably
originated in Iran and was later assimilated into the Hindu
pantheon. Consequently, he is depicted as a Central Asian
warrior with boots, breastplate, and dagger. The god stands in a
chariot pulled by seven horses. In each hand he holds fully
opened lotus blossoms, flowers that bloom in the light of the
sun. Surya is flanked by his two wives and by the male
attendants Pingala (with pen and inkpot) and Dandin (with sword
and shield). Above him Ushas, goddess of the Dawn, precedes the
sun on his daily ride across the sky while, to either side of
her, female archers dispel darkness with their arrows. This
image, along with several others, was recovered in