Surya, the Sun God
Unknown Artist
early 700s
Medium
brass with inlaid silver eyes and copper inlaid lips
Dimensions
h. 50.4 cm
Classification
Sculpture
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of Katharine Holden Thayer
Accession Number
1965.557
About this artwork
Surya wears a long tunic and boots suitable for riding horses across the grassland steppes of Central Asia. The sun god was of paramount power among the people of Central and Western Asia who followed religions such as Zoroastrianism, a pre-Islamic faith emphasizing a sacred duality between light and dark. When the image of the sun god began to be made in India from the 100s BC on, he is shown in the dress of the people who revered him the most. Surya is worshipped throughout the Indian subconti...