Thanks so much, Sankar. You seem to have so much at your finger-tips! It looks SE Asian and like Brahma to me. Can VJ or someone who's more familiar with SE Asian sculpture comment? Since arms aren't shown, no attributes shown, can't tell from the small photo. 8th-10th CE as Dr, Kozhevan states certainly doesn't make it 1700 years old! but how it got there is an interesting puzzle. kathie
In the reports as appearing in TOI and Indian Express, there is no mention of the substance from which the idol has been made. Is it in marble, sandstone, granite ? Incidentally, Kashyap has been immortalised in the name Caspian Sea as a tribute to the greatest exponent of Godhood. R Narasimhan
Nice rejoinder Sankar. Google is only a tool; major credit must go to enthusiasts like Kathie who have made this "walk and see with fingers" possible. I wonder how many of us will visit, see (not just look) and share like Kathie has done. Sampath
While browsing for more details i found this link as well: This should be the statue they might have discovered because in the previous link that Vishu resembles of Cambodian statue.
It could be possible ! Years back, I have read an article in "The HIndu" on the origin of Ramayana and its characters. I vaguely remember to have read that "Kaikeyi" did not
belong to Kandhahar as people tell now but she was from Tajikishtan, earlier a constituent of USSR. Dasaratha fell for her because of the color and beauty of Kaikeyi which is quite logical! Hence these two might have some links ! Learned
I spoke too soon, no sacred thread, no srivatsa, hands in wrong mudras for Vishnu, could that be a crescent on the halo behind His head? Chandra? Could it be Nepali? kathie
Actually, Kandahar is Gandhara, from where Gandhari of Mahabharata jails. I'd always heard of Kekaya as being in Iran.. Tajikistan isn't that far off...
All these borders are new creations. If you look at the map, most of those places are quite continuous. So, they were all probably linked together in old times.