Source: here.
The eldest son of the great king of Nepal, pR^ithivi nArAyaNa shahA (who defeated the British and founded the Nepal Kingdom until its recent destruction by Marxists), pratApa siMha, compiled a voluminous work on the mantra shAstra during his brief life. As a companion to this a collection of pictures for the dhyAna-s on various deities was prepared by the artists in Nepal. A copy of this collection with R1’s father is of considerable interest in terms of tradition Hindu dhyAna art of which not many old samples survive. That this Hindu tradition was very old is shown by the chitra-kalA section of the viShNudharmottara. Here the bhArgava mArkaNDeya gives a lecture on drawing and painting and specifically provides the principal lakShaNas that should depicted in paintings of devatAs. Most of the drawings in this collection are pretty exquisite and depict the following deities:
- vinAyaka: 1 headed, 4 armed in bhadrAsana with chakra and 3-looped pAsha.
- sUrya
- viShNu: seated with his two wives standing on either side. The lakShmi-s have a horizontal tilaka in addition to the bindu.
- matsya: Strangely with 2 horns and a fish face but arms holding chakra and gada
- kUrma: shown like the turtle Chelydra serpentina, and grabbing a crocodile by the neck with the mouth. Having a peculiar chakra- probably close to how the real chakras were used with a central rod.
- varAha: 8-arms with various weapons, globe on the tusks, in a war-like pose.
- nR^isiMha with two lakShmi-s
- vAmana: young boy standing on moon.
- rAmo bhArgava: with excellent axe seated before a sacrificial fire. Shown with 3 hands- an iconographic peculiarity seen elsewhere in Nepal.
- rAmachandra and brothers
- saMkarShaNa: peculiar shaped hala and the musala called sunanda.
- gopIjana-vallabha
- nAstIka siddhArtha: shown like a body-builder flanked by devas and brAhmaNas on either side.
- kalki: riding on a horse and slaughtering bearded turuShka-s (or Meccan demons) and mlechCha-s in combat.
- hayagrIva
- shiva: 5-headed with mR^iga and paraShu
- sharabha: shown like a griffin from Western Asia.
- kArtavIryArjuna: shown in a ratha with many arms and many bows discharging arrows.
- kAli
- tArA: shown just like a female shiva standing on shiva with a cleaver and lotus.
- ShoDashi: in the chintAmaNi gR^iha with the pa~ncha preta ma~ncha
- bhuvaneshvarI
- bhairavI
- ChinnamastA: sky-clad, dancing on rati and kAma with her 2 DAkinis drinking the blood streams coming from her head.
- dhUmAvatI: on a chariot drawn by a large crow holding a winnowing basket and crow banner. Looking awful.
- bagalamukhi
- mAta~Ngi: with a halberd and shield with crescent moon.
- gaja-lakShmi
- durgA: 10 handed killing mahiSha.
- shItalA: young, voluptuous, sky-clad, holding a winnow basket and broom-stick with a sack carried on the head.