Architectural Strut with the Dikpala, Vayu, Standing on a Deer
Nepal (Kathmandu Valley)
17th century
- Medium
- Wood with traces of red pigment
- Classification
- Architectural fragment
- Dimensions
- 72.3 × 17 × 10.2 cm (28 1/2 × 6 11/16 × 4 in.)
- Culture
- Nepal
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of Asia
- Credit line
- James W. and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Little Ones profiles and older: it shows gentle subjects for the very young. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
This wooden architectural strut would have been used to support one of the multi-tiered roofs of a shrine in the Kathmandu Valley. The figure on this strut is the wind-god Vayu, who can be identified by his attributes: a staff with a billowing banner and his animal vehicle, the deer. Vayu is one of the guardians of the directions (Astadikpalas), found in both Hinduism and Buddhism. The base of the strut is inscribed with the name of the donor, Binay.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
