The Indian Buddhist Iconography
by Benoytosh Bhattachacharyya | 1958 | 51,392 words | ISBN-10: 8173053138 | ISBN-13: 9788173053139
This page contains an iconography image of Nine planets: Rahu and represents figure 242 of the book Indian Buddhist Iconography, based on extracts of the Sadhanamala English translation. These plates and illustrations represent either photographs of sculptures or line-drawing reproductions of paintings or other representations of Buddhist artwork.
Figure 242 - Nine planets: Rāhu
Fig. 242: Rāhu
(Peiping)
From time immemorial people in India believed in the power of the planets either for evil or for good. That belief is still current. The Hindus, Buddhists and Jainas alike shared in this belief, and in all these three religious systems the planets were deified [viz., Rāhu] and they were given a form, weapon and colour. To compare the forms of the different planets in the three religious systems is itself an independent and stupendous study. [...]
Rāhu:
Colour: reddish-blue;
Arms: two;
Symbol: sun and moon;
The eighth deity in this series of Nine Planets, is the destructive deity Rāhu. His form is as under: “Rāhu is reddish blue in colour, and he holds in his two hands the Sun and the Moon”.
As Rāhudeva he occurs once in the Chinese collection. This Chinese statuette is illustrated in Fig. 242.