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{{Infobox Mandir
|name = Anantashayana Vishnu, Saranga
|image = Bishnu AnantaShayan, Saraang.jpg
|caption = Anantashayana Vishnu, Saranga
|map_type = Orissa
|coordinates = {{coord|20|55|43.34|N|85|14|48.74|E|type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
|coordinates_footnotes=
|map_caption = = Anantashayana Vishnu, Saranga
|map_size = 250
|other_names =

|sanskrit_translit =

|script_name = 
|script = 
|country = [[India]]
|state = [[Orissa, India|Orissa]]
|district = [[Dhenkanal district]]
|locale = On the left bank of the [[Brahmani River]]
|elevation_m = 61
|elevation_footnotes =
|deity = [[Vishnu]]
|festivals =
|temple_quantity =
|monument_quantity =
|inscriptions =
|year_completed = 9th Century
|creator =
|temple_board =
|website =
}}

'''Anantashayi Vishnu''', also known as '''Anantashayana Vishnu''' (both literally "sleeping on the serpent [[Shesha|Ananta]]"), is a symbolic representation of the cosmic balance of finity within infinity. There are many rock and other material sculptures and paintings of this cosmic visualization.

The ananta shayana padmanabha is a beautiful expression in temples across many parts of Bharata.
Notable ones are at Thiruvananthapuram and
large open air [[rock relief]] of the [[Hindu]] god [[Vishnu]], carved during the early 9th Century in the Saranga village, under the Parjang police station, in [[Dhenkanal district]] of [[Orissa, India]]. It is located on the left bank of the [[Brahmani River]]. It is the largest such exposed rock cut structure in the horizontal position measuring {{Convert|15.4|m}} in length, in the whole of India,<ref name=Vishnu>{{Cite web|url=http://ignca.nic.in/asi_reports/ordhenknl001.pdf|format=pdf|title= Anantasayana Visnu, Saranga, Dist. – Dhenkanal|access-date=4 December 2012|publisher= Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts for Archaeological Survey of India}}</ref><ref name= "Sah1976">{{cite book|last= Sah |first= Ayodhya Prasad|title= Life in mediaeval Orissa, cir. A.D. 600-1200|year=1972|publisher= Chaukhambha Orientalia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z8QBAAAAMAAJ&q=Anantasayana+Visnu,+Saranga&dq=Anantasayana+Visnu,+Saranga&hl=en&sa=X&ei=KtK9UL-JAonqmAWHy4E4&redir_esc=y|access-date=4 December 2012|page=101}}</ref> while the largest standing image is of [[Gomateshwara]] in [[Southern India]].{{cn|date=September 2020}} It is a protected monument maintained by the [[Archaeological Survey of India]], [[Bhubaneswar]] Circle. Worship is still offered to the four armed reclining Vishnu.<ref name=Vishnu/>

==Location==
The Vishnu image, located on the left bank of the river bed of the Brahmani River, is at an elevation of {{Convert|200|ft}}. It is accessible by road over a distance of {{Convert|1.5|km}} from Saranga Village in Parajanga Tehsil of [[Dhenkanal district]], {{Convert|67|km}} from [[Dhenkanal, India|Dhenkanal]], 23 km from Angul and {{Convert|3|km}} from [[Talcher]].<ref name=Vishnu/><ref name=Art>{{Cite web|url=http://dhenkanal.nic.in/tourist/Art&Architecture.htm|title=Art and Architecture|work= Ananta Sayan|access-date= 4 December 2012|publisher=National Informatics Centre}}</ref> It is also approached from the [[National Highway 42 (India)|National Highway 42]] from Cuttack to Sambalpur, on branch road over distance of 3 km.<ref name="Affairs1976">{{cite book|author=Orissa (India). Dept. of Tourism & Cultural Affairs|title=Tourism directory, Orissa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IBpDAAAAYAAJ|access-date=13 December 2012|year=1976|publisher=Dept. of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Govt. of Orissa|page=96}}</ref> The second natural rock-cut image in parent rock is at Bhimakand in Talcher subdivision of the Dhankal district.<ref name="(India)1972">{{cite book|author=Orissa (India)|title=Orissa District Gazetteers: Sambalpur|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ry1uAAAAMAAJ|access-date=13 December 2012|year=1972|publisher=Superintendent, Orissa Government Press|page =47}}</ref>

==History==
The image was carved during the first quarter of the 9th century CE when the [[Bhauma-Kara dynasty|Bhauma-Kara]] that ruled in central part of Orissa. It has been analysed on the basis of its "idiom and crown" and dated to belong to later part of the Bhaumakara reign.<ref name=Vishnu/> Historical records also indicate that the Nandodhbahav feudatory rulers, under the Bhaumakara kings, who were followers of [[Vaishnavism]] (the Hindu sect which worships Vishnu as the Supreme God), were instrumental in getting the carvings of two large rock-cut images of Vishnu - the one at Saranga and the other at Dankal, in the upper Brahmani River valley.<ref name="Mishra1984">{{cite book|author=P. K. Mishra|title=Evolution of Orissa and her culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Yy1AAAAIAAJ|access-date=13 December 2012|year=1984|publisher=P.K. Mishra|page=154}}</ref> The Bhaumakara kings asserted their association with Vaishnavism in the grants that they provided to carve the rock-cut sculptures and temples as recorded on the occasion of the celebrations of ''Vishuvazakranthi'' and ''Devtesvaduadasi''.<ref name="PatnaikProgramme1996">{{cite book|author1=Himansu S. Patnaik|author2=Utkal University. Post-graduate Dept. of History. DSA Programme|title=Aspects of socio-cultural life in early and medieval Orissa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2jluAAAAMAAJ|access-date=13 December 2012|year=1996|publisher=DSA Programme, Post Graduate Dept. of History, Utkal University|page =113}}</ref>

It is also reported that the urge to create these carved sculptures with deep expressions of "vigour and vitality" was inspired from the expressions depicted in the rock cut temples at [[Ellora]] and [[Elephanta Caves|Elephanta]] in [[Maharashtra]], and [[Mahabalipuram]] temples in [[Tamil Nadu]].<ref name="MahapatraMuseum1982">{{cite book|author1=Kedarnath Mahapatra|author2=Orissa State Museum|title=The Orissa Historical Research Journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0B5uAAAAMAAJ|access-date=13 December 2012|year=1982|publisher=Superintendent, Research and Museum, Orissa|page =22}}</ref> Such carvings on entrance gates or central part of regular temple lintels have been noted in the [[Rajeevlochana temple]] at [[Rajim]] and the [[Lakshmana temple]] in [[Sirpur Group of Monuments|Sirpur]], which were forerunners for to its adoption under the Bhaumakara kingdom.<ref name="The Journal of Orissan History">{{cite book|title=The Journal of Orissan History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H-IbAQAAMAAJ|access-date=13 December 2012|year=1995|publisher=Orissa History Congress|page=41}}</ref>

==Description==
The Vishnu image, under the open sky, occupies an area measuring {{Convert|15.4|m}} in length and {{Convert|7|m}} in width with a thickness of {{Convert|0.7|m}}.<ref name=Art/> The image is of the Hindu god Vishnu in a reclining position (''Anantashayana'' in [[Sanskrit]], literally sleeping on the serpent [[Shesha|Ananta]]). The image is carved out of natural rock of sandstone formation. He has four arms, holding a [[Sudarshan Chakra|Chakra]] in the upper right hand, a [[Shankha]] in his upper left hand, a [[Mace (bludgeon)|Gada]] and a symbolic lotus on its lower left hand. The hoods of the serpent Shesha (Ananta) covering the head of Vishnu.{{cn|date=September 2020}} The Vishnu image has a sharp chin, distinctive nose and wears a crown on its head, called ''kiritamukuta'' (a tall conical crown, typically worn by Vishnu).<ref name=Art/> A lotus design shown sprouting from his navel has the creator god [[Brahma]], sitting in meditation.<ref name=Art/> Another image in the same district also carved in [[sandstone]] in a reclining posture is in Khamkanaga Subdivision, in [[Angul district]] of {{Convert|41.5|ft}} length (as against the length of {{Convert|15.4|m}} image in Saranga village.<ref name= "Sah1976"/> The sculptor has imagined the river bank conceptually to represent the [[Kshirasagara]] (cosmic ocean) from which Brahma created the world. The shrine is regularly worshipped by local people. The [[Archaeological Survey of India]] is renovating this sculpture regularly and has kept it in a good condition. Floods in Brahmani River are the only threat to the image as this is built by sandstone in the river bed, which could erode.<ref name=Vishnu/>

==See also==
* [[Ananta Shayana]]
* [[Bhishma#Death|Bhishma on bed of arrows]]
* [[Reclining Buddha]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Anantashayana Vishnu rock relief}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20101222052531/http://ignca.nic.in/asp/all.asp?projectid=ordnk0010001 images of Anantashayi]

{{Hindu temples in Orissa}}

[[Category:Hindu temples in Dhenkanal district]]
[[Category:Vishnu temples]]
[[Category:Archaeological monuments in Odisha]]
[[Category:9th-century Hindu temples]]
[[Category:9th-century establishments in India]]
[[Category:Rock reliefs in India]]

Anantashayana Vishnu - Revision history

>Monkbot at 13:00, 31 January 2021