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Artwork Page for Agni, God of Fire

Details / Information for Agni, God of Fire

Agni, God of Fire

c. 1000
sandstone
Overall: 73 x 40.6 cm (28 3/4 x 16 in.)
Edward L. Whittemore Fund 1955.51
Location: 243 Indian and Southeast Asian
Public Domain
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Did You Know?

This sculpture is on the cover of the Penguin Classics edition of the Hindu "Laws of Manu."

Description

The Hindu god Agni, with flames rising behind him, is the figural form of the sacrificial fire, central to religious practice in India since the early second millennium BC. Agni’s mount is the goat, and together they preside over the Southeast. In the upper registers, Brahmans perform fire sacrifice, preach to disciples, and practice "hot yoga."
Grey-brown sandstone full-body sculpture of the god Agni with flames flaring behind his head and flanked on either side in four rows by figures a fifth his size, then a third his size at the base, including a goat and figures with human bodies and goat heads. Agni wears a crown and jewelry, has a moustache and small pointed beard, with his left arm hanging down and the other broken off at the elbow.

Agni, God of Fire

c. 1000

India, Uttar Pradesh

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