Seated Kubera
Title Seated Kubera
Accession Number 59.530/2
Museum Name National Museum, New Delhi
Gallery Name Archaeology
Object Type Archaeology
Main Material Stone
Country India
Origin Place Ahichchhatra, Distt. Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh
Patron/Dynasty Kushana
Period / Year of Work 2nd Century AD
Dimensions Ht. 95.2 cm. Wd. 45.7 cm.
Brief Description

Seated figure of Yaksha, probably Kubera. The god of wealth, seated at ease on a block pedestal. Both arms and right leg are missing, except for the right foot; the ears, nose, lower lip and left foot are damaged. The figure has a rotund belly and stumpy legs. The hair is arranged in curly ringlets all over the head. The eye balls are clearly engraved and the moustache well trimmed. He wears an elaborated garland round the neck with two plaited ends about the left shoulder, in front and at the back. The lower garment with drapery folds is held at the waist by a cord. He also wears a scarf. The row of peeping teeth is suggestive of an indifferent smile. Deep navel. Mottled red sand stone.

Detailed Description

This image of Kubera was discovered at Ahichchhatra, a site identified with the capital of ancient Panchala. However, stylistically one can assert that it was executed at Mathura. Sculptures of Mathura origin have been found from Taxila in the north - west and Chandraketugarh in the east, suggesting widespread acceptance of Mathura art during this period.

Kubera, the god of wealth and prosperity, is the guardian of the North. His bare body is dominated by a voluminous stomach that rests against the left thigh. The corpulent divinity is seated in bhadrasana, on a high but plain pedestal. Both the arms are lost but were originally raised apart and possibly holding a deep bowl (patra), a characteristic feature of the patravahaka yaksha. This theme is reckoned with the one executed at Pitalkhora (Acc. No. 67.195).

Over his short dhoti a cloth-girdle is seen running across the left knee. A fold of flesh connects the stomach to the chest, the body barely able to cope with its enormous burden. Between the gently parted lips are seen evenly arranged tooth. This portrait-Eke image bears the majestic quality of the deity of opulence. The treatment of necklace of twisted band of pearls, curled hair locks, bemused eyes and bow-like bushy moustache succeeds in typifying the images as the product of Mathura art.