Page:South-Indian Images of Gods and Goddesses.djvu/149

Rh frightened goddess Umā with the young Skanda beside her (fig. 82). The  Kāranāgama mentions the weapons tanka and deer and the pointing-finger-pose (sūchi). This last posture of the hand is noticed both in the Tirutturaippūndi and the Dhārāsuram stone images. The former has perhaps five heads (of which three alone are visible on the picture). It has ten hands and more attendant figures (fig. 83).

Gangadhara, " the bearer of Gangā (the Ganges)," is a form of Siva which illustrates a well-known Purānic story. The story of the descent of the heavenly Ganges into the earth to purify the ashes of the sinful sons of Sagara, a king of the Solar race, is related in the Rāmāyana. At the prayer of Bhagīratha, a later member of the same family, " the river of the gods " consented to direct her course to the earth, but her force was such that the earth was unable to bear the shock. So Bhagīratha prayed to Siva and the latter consented to receive the Ganges on his matted locks. The river, proud of her might, came down with all her force as if to crush Siva, but found herself lost altogether in the tangled maze of Siva's locks. Gangā then became humble and Siva let her flow forth again from his locks in a tiny trickle. The river-goddess, the heavenly Ganges, is believed since then to abide in Siva's matted hair as one of his consorts. This latter subject of letting the Ganges flow out of his matted hair as a tiny rivulet is represented in figures generally known as Gangāvisarjanamūrti. No distinction, however, has been made in the Āgamas between Gangādhara and Gangāvisarjana. He stands on a lotus pedestal with the right leg straight and the left slightly bent. The image is represented as embracing the goddess Gaurī, consoling and assuring her that his affections would not be transferred to the river goddess. One right arm holds up a lock of his hair, on which is seen the goddess Gangā. A left arm holds the antelope. The goddess Gaurī with a dejected face (virahitānanā) is represented in the samabhanga posture with her left leg placed straight on the pedestal and the right leg slightly bent. Her right hand stretches down or is sometimes held

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