LACMA

ShopMembershipMyLACMATickets
LACMA
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
5905 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
info@lacma.org
(323) 857-6000
Sign up to receive emails
Subscribe
© Museum Associates 2026
  • About LACMA
  • Jobs
  • Host An Event
  • Unframed
  • Press
  • FAQs
  • Log in to MyLACMA
  • Privacy Policy
© Museum Associates 2026
Collections

Unknown
The Hindu God Vishnu in his Emanation as Shridhara14th century

Not on view
No image
Artist or Maker
Unknown
Title
The Hindu God Vishnu in his Emanation as Shridhara
Place Made
Nepal
Date Made
14th century
Medium
Gilt copper alloy inlaid with gemstones
Dimensions
8 3/8 x 4 x 2 3/16 in. (21.3 x 10.16 x 5.56 cm)
Credit Line
From the Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection, Museum Associates Purchase
Accession Number
M.72.1.8
Classification
Sculpture
Collecting Area
South and Southeast Asian Art
Curatorial Notes

Vishnu, the Hindu God of Preservation, has twenty-four philosophical aspects or emanations (chaturvinshati-murtis) as described in several important iconographic texts, ranging from the late 3rd-century BCE devotional text, the Pancharatra (Five Nights), to the Rupamandana (Beautifying of Forms) compiled in the 15th century by Sutradhara Mandana, the renowned royal chief architect of Maharana Kumbha of Mewar (r. 1433-1468). The various forms have different names and are differentiated iconographically by the position of Vishnu’s standard attributes held in his four-armed (chaturbhuja) images starting in his upper right hand and proceeding in a circular manner to the upper left, lower left, and lower right. See T. A. Gopinatha Rao, "The Twenty-Four Images of Vishnu," Elements of Hindu Iconography, vol. 1, part 1; 2nd ed. (Varanasi: Indological Book House, 1971), pp. 227-244.

This representation accords with the identification in the Rupamandana of the emanation of Shridhara (Bearer of Fortune). The flaming discus (cakra or Sudarshana) is held in his upper right hand, the mace (gada or Kaumodaki) in his upper left, the conch (shankha or Panchajanya) in his lower left, and the now-damaged lotus (padma) in his lower right. Vishnu is crowned and wears a dhoti with floral motifs and copious jewelry, including the Brahmanical sacred thread (yajñopavita) over his left shoulder and his long forest garland (vanamala) that hangs above his knees. He stands in a stiff, frontal pose (samapada sthanaka) on a flat base with foliate supports connecting to the ends of his flowing waist sash.

See also M.85.279.4 (Shridhara) and M.91.294.1 (Narayana).

Selected Bibliography
  • Pal, Pratapaditya. Art of Nepal. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; University of California Press, 1985.
  • Rosenfield, John. The Arts of India and Nepal: The Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1966.
  • Pal, Pratapaditya. Vaisnava Iconology in Nepal. Calcutta: The Asiatic Society, 1970.