9th century sculpture of Lord Vishnu recovered from Jhelum River in Pulwama

A three-headed stone sculpture of Lord Vishnu, believed to be from the 9th century, was recovered from Jhelum river in the southern district of Pulwama, officials said on Thursday

A three-headed stone sculpture of Lord Vishnu, believed to be from the 9th century, was recovered from Jhelum river in the southern district of Pulwama, officials said on Thursday.

The statue recovered from Jhelum was found in good condition.

The department of archives, archaeology and museums took custody of the structure after police received the idol from the locals of Lelhar village of Kakapora in Pulwama. “It is a ninth century statue of Lord Vishnu, because this school of art was prominent in Awantipora,” said Mushtaq Ahmad Beigh, in-charge, deputy director of the department of archives, archaeology and museums. “The status was recovered during extraction of sand from river Jhelum and is in good shape,” he added.

“It is an intact object with finesse. It will be a unique object at our SPS museum, owing to its features like face and incarnations of lion and boar, besides human incarnation. That is why it is three headed,” Beigh said.

The official said that another unique thing about the statue was its greenish colour. “Till now, the stones in our museum are black, but this is a greenish stone,” he said. “This not only has resemblance with the artifacts of Awantipora, but the development of art is also properly highlighted,” he said.

Last year, a black stone idol of Goddess Durga was found in Jhelum during sand extraction, which experts believed was carved locally around 7th or 8th century. The idol was said to be around 1,200-years old.