- Title
- The Hindu God Revanta and Companions
- Date Made
- early 7th century
- Medium
- Pale cream sandstone
- Dimensions
- 23 x 20 in. (58.42 x 50.8 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.73.87.1
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
Revanta (Brilliant) is the youngest son of the Hindu Sun God, Surya, and his wife Sañjña (or Saranya). He is the chief of the Guhyakas (Hidden Ones), nature spirits who dwell in mountain caves and protect forest travelers. Revanta is worshiped as a patron deity of horse traders and is represented as a hunter on horseback returning from a successful hunt. Perhaps due to Iranian cultural influence, and in accordance with his father’s attire in northern Indian representations, he wears boots, trousers, and a tunic. His hair is styled like a Phrygian cap and he wears a bejeweled diadem. He carries a drinking cup in his right hand and holds the horse’s reins in his left. He is accompanied by five Guhyaka attendants with similar hairstyles. The attendant behind him carries an honorific parasol (chattra) over Revanta’s head. An attendant behind the horse’s head holds a flask to refill his master’s drinking cup. The attendant in the upper left corner carries a slain boar captured in the hunt. The hunting dog licks his master’s boot in a charming genre embellishment. Beneath the hunting procession is a frieze of dancing musicians celebrating the good fortune of the hunt. See also M.86.61.1.
A comparable sandstone sculpture of Revanta, attributed to North India, 9th–10th century, is in the Linden-Museum Stuttgart.
