A sandstone sculpture of Agni, the Hindu god of fire, from Uttar Pradesh, India, dated around 1000 CE, held by the Cleveland Museum of Art, accession 1955.51, acquired through the Edward L. Whittemore Fund. Agni is shown as the figural form of the sacrificial fire central to Vedic and later Hindu religious practice since the early second millennium BC, crowned and jewelled, with a mustache and pointed beard, flames rising behind his head. Hierarchically scaled attendant figures, some human and some with human bodies and goat heads, flank him in registers, with his sacred animal the goat at the base and, in the upper registers, Brahmans performing fire sacrifice, teaching disciples and practicing yoga.
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Subject Matter
Depicted SubjectAgni enthroned amid attendants, his sacred goat, and Brahmans performing fire sacrifice. 1 Custody
Current LocationCleveland Museum of Art, accession 1955.51 1 Current CustodianCleveland Museum of Art 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
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This source names Uttar Pradesh directly: "of Agni, the Hindu god of fire, from Uttar Pradesh, India, dated around 1000 CE, held by the Cleveland Museum of Art, accession 1955.51, acquired through the Edward L."
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