The Development of Hindu Iconography and Image Worship in India

When we enter an Indian temple and look at the beautifully carved images of Shiva, Vishnu, Devi, Surya, or other deities, we often see them simply as religious sculptures. But these images are much more than artistic creations. They represent centuries of religious thought, , ritual practices, regional traditions, and philosophical development.

Jitendra Nath Banerjea’s The Development of Hindu Iconography explores how sacred images developed in India and what they reveal about the religious and cultural history of the Indian subcontinent.

The Meaning and Scope of Iconography

The word iconography or shilpashastra refers to the study of images, particularly their forms, attributes, symbols, and religious meanings. In the Indian tradition, a sacred image intended for worship was commonly described through terms such as arca, bera, or vigraha.

However, iconography is not restricted to the principal deity placed in the sanctum or garbhagriha of a temple. It also includes religious reliefs, decorative sculptures, and banner paintings that carry a definite religious meaning.  doThus, studying iconography means studying not only what an image looks like, but also why it was created, what it represents, and how people understood it.

Icons as a Mirror of Religious History

Sacred images can tell us a great deal about the religious beliefs and psychology of ancient communities. For example, some images reflect sectarian rivalry between different religious traditions. The story of Sarabha, a fierce form associated with Shiva, confronting Vishnu's Narasimha avatar so as to calm him down after he killed Hiranyakashyapu, is an example of how religious art could express competition between Shaiva and Vaishnava traditions.

At the same time, Indian religious traditions also produced images representing harmony and reconciliation. Composite forms such as Hari-Hara, combining Vishnu and Shiva, demonstrate an attempt to bring different traditions together. Therefore, iconography provides a visual record of both religious conflict and religious synthesis.

Archaeological Sources of Iconography

To understand the development of religious images, Banerjea makes use of several archaeological sources:

Coins: Small Objects with Big Historical Value

Coins are particularly valuable because they preserve some of the earliest known representations of deities after their form sculpted in stones. The coins of Kushan rulers such as Kanishka and Huvishka contain representations connected with religious traditions of their time, including early forms associated with Buddha and Shiva.

Similarly, later representations of deities on Indo-Greek coins have helped scholars compare coin imagery with descriptions of Indian gods. Although coins are small, they provide important evidence about the forms and symbols associated with gods before large-scale stone sculpture became widespread.

Inscriptions: Written Evidence

Inscriptions provide another important source. Ancient rulers and devotees sometimes recorded the construction of temples and the installation of sacred images. One significant example is the Ghosundi inscription of the 2nd century BCE, which refers to a stone enclosure associated with the worship of Sankarshana and Vasudeva.

Seals :

Ancient seals found in Harappan Civilisation and other Royal seals attached to copper-plate grants also provide valuable iconographic evidence. The Garuda emblem associated with the Imperial Guptas is one example of how royal authority and religious affiliation could be expressed through imagery. Similarly, Buddhist royal traditions used distinctive religious symbols, showing how political identity and religious symbolism could become closely connected.

Literary and Technical Sources:

Archaeological evidence alone cannot fully explain an image. To understand its meaning, we also need to examine India's vast literary and technical traditions which includes Religious Literature like  The Vedas, Epics, and Puranas containing stories and descriptions that influenced the visual representation of Hindu deities. They explain why a deity possesses particular weapons, vehicles, ornaments, gestures, or forms. For example, understanding the attributes of a deity often requires knowledge of the stories associated with that deity.

Shilpa and Vastu Texts:

Ancient Indian traditions also developed technical texts dealing with the construction of temples and murtis or images. These are broadly associated with Shilpa Shastras and Vastu Shastras. These important works include, Brihatsamhita by Varahamihira, Manasara, Pancaratra Samhitas, Matsya Purana, Vishnudharmottara Purana. These texts describe rules concerning the proportions, forms, attributes, postures, and construction of religious images. Traditionally, the knowledge of image-making was sometimes attributed to gods like Vishvakarma and Maya.

Dhyana-Mantras: Visualising the Deity

Another fascinating source is the Dhyana-mantra, or meditation verse. These verses often provide detailed descriptions of a deity, its appearance, number of arms, weapons, ornaments, posture, and other characteristics. They helped the worshipper mentally visualise the deity and also provided guidance for artistic representation.

An important distinction appears between traditions. In many Brahmanical practices, the devotee maintains a distinction between the worshipper and the personal deity. In some Vajrayana Buddhist practices, however, the practitioner may mentally identify with the deity during meditation. Thus, religious images are closely connected with both art and spiritual practice.

Regional Differences in Iconography:

One of the most interesting aspects of Indian iconography is that the same deity may not look exactly the same everywhere as regional variations exist. The representation of Surya, the Sun god, provides a good example. Northern Indian descriptions often portray Surya wearing boots and heavy clothing, sometimes described as udicyavesa. This feature is also visible in several Northern sculptures. In contrast, Southern Indian representations and textual traditions generally do not emphasise on these features. This shows that Indian iconography developed through a combination of shared religious ideas and regional artistic traditions.

The Problem of Lost Images:

There exists an important limitation in reconstructing the history of Indian iconography that many ancient images no longer survive. Some early images were made from materials such as wood, which naturally deteriorated over time. Others were destroyed during periods of conflict or religious iconoclasm. We many a times see sculptures of Gods not just Hindu Gods but Lord Buddha broken due to invasions. In some cases, sculptures were reused as ordinary building material. Banerjea points to the striking example of ancient sculptures from Sarnath, some of which were reportedly reused as ballast in the construction of the Dufferin Bridge at Benares. Therefore, the images we see today represent only a fraction of the artistic production that once existed.

From Symbols to Sacred Images

When did people in India actually begin worshipping images? This question is difficult because the earliest evidence is fragmentary and often open to interpretation. What Makes an Image an "Icon"? Not every representation of a human or divine figure is automatically an icon to be worshipped. For Banerjea, an important distinction is between an ordinary representation and an arca (an image specifically intended for ritual worship).

This distinction is important because an object may depict a deity without necessarily being used as a cult image. In other words, artistic representation and ritual worship are not always the same thing.

Evidence from the Indus Valley Civilisation

Some of the earliest possible evidence for religious imagery/ murti comes from the Indus Valley Civilisation. Archaeological discoveries from sites such as Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro include: Terracotta human and animal figurines, Stone objects interpreted by some scholars as phallic symbols Seals containing unusual divine or semi-divine figures which some call as Shivalinga, figures associated with nature etc. One famous seal has been interpreted as representing a horned, possibly Shiva-like figure, sometimes associated with the idea of Pashupati. However, interpretation remains difficult because the Indus script has not yet been conclusively deciphered. Therefore, while these objects strongly suggest the existence of religious or ritual practices, it is difficult to determine precisely what these figures meant to the people who created them.

Did the Early Vedic People Worship Idols?

The Anti-Idol Argument

Scholars such as Max Müller and Macdonell argued that early Vedic religion did not centre around temples and permanent idols. Instead, Vedic religious life was primarily based on Yajna, sacrifice, hymns, and ritual offerings. Descriptions of Vedic gods were often poetic rather than precise physical descriptions. For example, references to the "arms" of the Sun could be understood metaphorically as its rays rather than as literal human arms.

The Pro-Idol Argument

Other scholars, including Bollensen and Venkateswara, argued that the Vedic people may have known some form of divine images. They pointed to certain Rigvedic passages that mention physical characteristics, ornaments, or expressions that could potentially suggest images. One particularly debated passage refers to the idea of "selling" Indra for ten cows, which some scholars interpreted as evidence of a physical representation.

Banerjea's Position

Banerjea generally supports the view that the higher sections of the early Vedic Indo-Aryan community did not practise regular image worship. The central focus of their religious life was sacrifice and the attainment of desired results rather than meditation upon a permanent physical representation of a deity. The reference to a "purchased" or "hired" Indra is therefore interpreted differently. Banerjea considers the possibility that it referred to a temporary fetish associated with magical or ritual practices, rather than a permanent temple icon

Indigenous Traditions and the Development of Image Worship

Another important aspect is the interaction between Vedic and non-Vedic traditions. The Rigveda contains references to groups described using terms such as Sisnadevas and Muradevas. These references have been interpreted by scholars as evidence that certain indigenous communities practised forms of worship that differed from early Vedic ritualism, including forms of object or symbol worship. Over time, different religious traditions interacted with one another. Practices that were initially viewed as belonging to other communities could gradually become incorporated into the broader religious culture of India. This interaction is important for understanding how Hindu religious practices developed into the diverse traditions we see today.

The Upanishads and the Idea of the Formless

The later Upanishadic tradition introduced a highly philosophical approach to religion. The Upanishads placed great emphasis on concepts such as Brahman and Atman, with Brahman understood as the ultimate reality beyond ordinary physical limitations. This emphasis on the formless and abstract might seem very different from the later tradition of richly decorated temple images. Yet Indian religious history is not a simple movement from "formless" to "form." Instead, different approaches continued to coexist, philosophical meditation on the formless alongside devotional worship involving concrete forms.

Conclusion: Why Iconography Matters

The study of Hindu iconography is much more than the study of statues. Banerjea's work shows that the development of sacred images was a long and complex process. Archaeological discoveries, coins, inscriptions, seals, literary texts, technical treatises, and surviving sculptures all contribute pieces to this historical puzzle. The journey from early symbols and possible cult objects to sophisticated temple iconography reflects the diversity of Indian religious thought. Perhaps the most fascinating lesson is that a temple image is not merely a piece of stone carved into the shape of a deity. It is the result of centuries of mythology, philosophy, ritual practice, artistic conventions, regional traditions, and human attempts to give a visible form to the sacred. And that is what makes the study of Hindu iconography so valuable: it allows us to read India's religious history not only through words, but also through its images.

Reference:

Banerjea, J. N. (1941). The development of Hindu iconography. University of C