A blackstone stele depicting Lakshminarayana, Northern India, possibly Haryana, 12th century | 印度北部 或為哈里亞納邦 十二世紀 黑石雕吉祥天女立像

Vishnu caresses his wife Lakshmi in graceful union while holding a padma, gada, and chakra. In an intimate detail, while engaged in each other’s embrace, Lakshmi gathers Vishnu’s fourth emblem, the shankha, with her left arm, allowing one if his hands free to hold her. Chakrapurusha and Shankhapurusha, the personification of Vishnu’s principal emblems, stand at either side, each with a kneeling devotee in adoration of the divine couple. This rare stone relief depicting Nārāyana, an epithet of Vishnu, and his consort Lakshmi, is deeply carved, the black stone evidently predisposed to fine, intricate detailing and a high polish. Compare a polished and finely detailed twelfth century black stone Varaha from Fathabad, Hissar District, Haryana, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, with similar composition, style of lotus pedestals, seated and standing attendant deities including the four-armed Brahma upper left and four-armed Shiva upper right, see John Guy, Indian Temple Sculpture, V&A Publications, 2007, pl. 174. The Varaha might provide an indication of the shape of the missing upper section of the Lakshmīnārāyana stele. The crosshatch and floral designs on the uprights are unusual, but are seen on a Surya dating to the tenth century from Bihar, ibid, pl. 171.