Artwork Page for Surya, the Sun God

Details / Information for Surya, the Sun God

Surya, the Sun God

early 700s

India, Kashmir

Medium
brass with inlaid silver eyes and copper inlaid lips
Measurements
Overall: 50.4 cm (19 13/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Katharine Holden Thayer 1965.557
Public Domain
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Location
237 Himalayan
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Description

Surya wears a long tunic and boots suitable for riding horses across the grassland steppes of Central Asia. The sun god was of paramount power among the people of Central and Western Asia who followed religions such as Zoroastrianism, a pre-Islamic faith emphasizing a sacred duality between light and dark. When the image of the sun god began to be made in India from the 100s BC on, he is shown in the dress of the people who revered him the most. Surya is worshipped throughout the Indian subcontinent and Himalayan regions of Kashmir and Nepal alongside both Hindu and Buddhist deities.
A brass sculpture with silver eyes and copper lips depicts Surya, the Sun God, standing and facing forward. He wears a tall, cylindrical floral-patterned headdress and disk-shaped ornaments at his ears. He raises both hands to chest level, holding clusters of flower buds. He is dressed in a long, geometric-patterned robe that flares at the base, a beaded necklace, and beaded boots.

Surya, the Sun God

early 700s

India, Kashmir

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