Antique Garuda wood carving Vahana of Lord Vishnu with articulated/rotating shoulders, elbows, and hands. Similar specimens of this quality and detail reside in the National Museum of Delhi, India. Vahanas are mythical carriages or vehicles of the Hindu Gods and life-sized or large versions of Vahanas are especially used to mount the movable images of deities. In southern India, especially Tamil Nadu, annual religious festivals that last from a week to ten days involve the parading of deities mounted on a vehicle around the temple. In Hinduism, Garuda is a Hindu divinity, usually the mount (Vahana) of the Lord Vishnu. Garuda is depicted as having the golden body of a strong man with a white face, red wings, and an eagle's beak and with a crown on his head. This ancient deity was said to be massive, large enough to block out the sun. Garuda is known as the eternal sworn enemy of the Naga serpent race and known for feeding exclusively on snakes, such behavior may have referred to the actual short-toed eagle of India. The image of Garuda is often used as the charm or amulet to protect the bearer from snake attack and its poison, since the king of birds is an implacable enemy and "devourer of serpent". Garudi Vidya is the mantra against snake poison to remove all kinds of evil. His stature in Hindu religion can be gauged by the fact that a dependent Upanishad, the Garudopanishad, and a Purana, the Garuda Purana, is devoted to him. Various names have been attributed to Garuda - Chirada, Gaganeshvara, Kamayusha, Kashyapi, Khageshvara, Nagantaka, Sitanana, Sudhahara, Suparna, Tarkshya, Vainateya, Vishnuratha and others. SIZE: see attached ruler photo. Photos are part of the description representing the condition report and can be used for authentication prior to the sale date. Pangaea Auctions urges Bidder's to view all attached photos in detail. #(Indian, 18th-19th Century, Fine Art- Sculpture, Carving, Wood, Antique, Indonesian).

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