[INDOLOGY] Inscriptions on Pala-type sculptures of Vishnu

[Christophe Vielle]

Dear list,

In a little exhibition of Indian and Himalayan arts in Brussels (De Marteau collection to be sold in auction by Bonhams
https://www.bonhams.com/video/32650/#/MR3_main_index_key=sale&m3=3 <https://www.bonhams.com/video/32650/#/MR3_main_index_key=sale&m3=3> ), there is a sculpture of Vishnu in the North-East/"Pala" style. 
Such sculptures have been well documented in the works of Huntington or Claudine Picron  - see by the latter:
https://www.academia.edu/11955485/Limage_de_l%C3%82dimurti_V%C3%A2sudeva_au_Bihar_et_au_Bengale_du_5e_au_12e_si%C3%A8cle_Annali_dellIstituto_Universitario_Orientale_Naples_vol_45_1985_pp_437_481
https://www.academia.edu/20284978/The_Vishnu_Image_from_Sarisadah_in_the_Indian_Museum_Kolkata
https://www.academia.edu/41463136/Bautze_Picron_2020_Unpublished_or_little_known_Visnu_Visvarupa_images_from_Eastern_India

However, there is a short inscription on the pedestal (see picture attached).






This seems not very common - from a quick check of images of similar sculptures available online (see list below, from museums or auctions), I found only one example in an auction in Köln (via Drouot)

https://www.drouotonline.com/l/15353995---stele-de-vishnu-pierre-noirc <https://www.drouotonline.com/l/15353995---stele-de-vishnu-pierre-noirc>    




My problem remains the precise reading/meaning of these two (genuine or added later?) inscriptions (which does not make sense to me yet, as far as I am able to read them).

Best wishes,

Christophe




https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vishnu_with_consorts,_India,_Pala_period,_12th_century_AD,_stone_-_Middlebury_College_Museum_of_Art_-_Middlebury,_VT_-_DSC08240.jpg <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vishnu_with_consorts,_India,_Pala_period,_12th_century_AD,_stone_-_Middlebury_College_Museum_of_Art_-_Middlebury,_VT_-_DSC08240.jpg>
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/38120 <https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/38120>
https://artmuseum.princeton.edu/collections/objects/28869 <https://artmuseum.princeton.edu/collections/objects/28869>
http://jameelcentre.ashmolean.org/collection/3/per_page/25/offset/0/sort_by/date/object/12482 <http://jameelcentre.ashmolean.org/collection/3/per_page/25/offset/0/sort_by/date/object/12482>
https://searchthecollection.nga.gov.au/object?uniqueId=102840 <https://searchthecollection.nga.gov.au/object?uniqueId=102840>
https://www.alamyimages.fr/musee-national-de-l-inde-delhi-vishnu-11eme-siecle-a-d-pala-du-bengale-occidental-pierre-l-inde-image177655275.html <https://www.alamyimages.fr/musee-national-de-l-inde-delhi-vishnu-11eme-siecle-a-d-pala-du-bengale-occidental-pierre-l-inde-image177655275.html>
https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2014/06/pala-period-vishnu-idol-unearthed.html <https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2014/06/pala-period-vishnu-idol-unearthed.html>
https://www.artcurial.com/en/node/1122459 <https://www.artcurial.com/en/node/1122459> 

https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/22316/lot/59/?category=list

https://www.bonhams.com/online_auctions/26903/lot/1251 <https://www.bonhams.com/online_auctions/26903/lot/1251>

https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/26589/lot/89/
https://www.auction.fr/_fr/lot/stele-of-vishnu-in-black-stone-pala-period-north-india-pala-period-ad-760-1142-8587681 <https://www.auction.fr/_fr/lot/stele-of-vishnu-in-black-stone-pala-period-north-india-pala-period-ad-760-1142-8587681>
https://www.auction.fr/_fr/lot/vishnu-stele-stein-bengalen-ost-indien-pala-11-12-jh-8959943

https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2021/indian-himalayan-southeast-asian-works-of-art/a-sandstone-figure-of-vishnu-pala-period-11th-12th <https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2021/indian-himalayan-southeast-asian-works-of-art/a-sandstone-figure-of-vishnu-pala-period-11th-12th>
https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2011/indian-southeast-asian-works-of-art-n08727/lot.16.html <https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2011/indian-southeast-asian-works-of-art-n08727/lot.16.html>
https://www.bada.org/object/carved-black-stone-stele-vishnu <https://www.bada.org/object/carved-black-stone-stele-vishnu>   





–––––––––––––––––––
Christophe Vielle <https://uclouvain.be/en/directories/christophe.vielle>
Louvain-la-Neuve



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