Rightly called "a picture gallery of the archaeological
remains" here one comes across sculptural representations
belonging to the three sects of Hindus: Shaivism, Vaishnavism
and Saktism. At the foot of the hill and covering the extensive
area are found a good number of Shiva Lingas cut out of
granite stone. As a local tradition has it, there were about
99,999 lingas and these were established with a view to
make this town a second Kashi.
The Exquisite Rock-Cut Figurines
In addition to Shiva Lingas, the Sri Surya Prahar remains
include many rock-cut figures of artistic merit. Of the
many images mention may be made of Durga, Shiva and Manasa.
The image of Manasa Goddess, also identified as Durga by
some, is a twelve-armed deity cut out of a single rock.
She holds weapons of different kinds in each of her hands.
She is standing on a lotus with seven snakes spreading their
hoods like a canopy over her head. This is perhaps the singular
instance of a 12-armed Goddess hitherto discovered in Assam.
A Modern Shrine
On the hill is a modern shrine, the walls of which are
built of old bricks plastered with mud and with the roof
of corrugated iron-sheets. The shrine contains a circular
stone tablet measuring four and a half feet in circumference.
On this stone tablet are engraved the images of various
planetary gods with the figure of Surya.
The sculpture is within a circle and the central figure,
which is within a circle, is rimmed with another embossed
circle. This is a male figure with four hands. Objects held
in hands cannot be recognised. The god is four-faced, fourth
one being on the backside (not visible). The god is seated
but his vehicle cannot be identified with precision.
The Twelve Adityas
The central figure is 'Kasyapa' who is often called Prajapati
or "creator of beings". Surya is an 'Aditya',
the son of 'Aditi', wife of 'Kasyapa'. According to the
Puranas the
Adityas are sun gods who are twelve in number. Thus these
twelve miniature figures in a circle may be called the twelve
Adityas with their father at the centre. The Kalika Purana
mentions the 'Sri Surya Mountain', which was the perpetual
abode of the Sun God ("Yatra Deva Adityahsatatam Sthilah").
The remains prove the prevalence of Sun worship in early
Assam.
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