Vishnu-Pada or the foot of Lord Vishnu

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The 'pada-puja', or the worship of foot, is an ancient ritual tradition of India. In visual representations the earliest evidence of 'pada-puja' relates to Buddhism. Lord Buddha, before his 'nirvana', had prohibited his personal worship. Hence, his devotees, while seeking to worship Buddha, innovated various symbols which represented him. The most popular ones were the Bodhi-tree, his feet and the 'dharmachakra'. Almost all ancient Buddhist sites have 'Buddhapada' sculptured in stone. Buddhapada representations are reported also in metals and other media and in wall paintings. Prince of Wales Museum, Mumbai has a 2nd century B.C. Buddhapada. The Buddhapadas at Amaravati too are almost as older. The Buddhapada had carved on it the 'triratna', that is, three gems or the cardinals of Buddhism, faith in Buddha, faith in dharma and faith in sangha. These three aspects were represented by various chakras.

Initial mentions of Vishnupada are discoverable in literary writings. The 5th century drama, Padataditakam, worships Vishnupada as "hail to that foot of the lusty beloved which hits the head of the lover, that foot which is adorned with red paste and jingling anklets is the banner of love and which is worthy of adoration by inclining one's head". Visual representations of Vishnupada, which are mostly in the form of paintings, are, however, late. Vishnu, the manifest form of cosmos, is believed to have in his foot the entire cosmos and, hence, multiple symbols in its artistic representations. These symbols sometimes change according to artist's fancy as representing cosmos there could be any range of them, however, symbols like conch, chakra, flag, fish, pot, sword, bow and arrows, axe, throne, lotus, vina or the lyre, trident, mace, various tantrika motifs are more usual in defining the Vishnupada. The representations of Vishnupada were used a ritual object of his worship in medieval India as also now but sometimes also as amulets to keep off the evil spirits.

Representations of Vishnupada are not seen in Mughal or Daccani art. Their greater prevalence is in Rajasthan. The National Museum, New Delhi has in its collection a fine painting of Vishnupada of mid-19th century from Jaipur. Instead of a single foot as here the Jaipur painting depicts Lord Vishnu's both feet. Some of the symbols in this Vishnupada and that from Jaipur are common but a few others vary in two depictions. The Jaipur Vishnupada has been rendered against a plain simple background but the Vishnupada here has instead a background with various 'mantras' inscribed around, which suggests its use in tantrika worship and its tantrika character.

This description by Prof. P.C. Jain and Dr. Daljeet. Prof. Jain specializes on the aesthetics of literature and is the author of numerous books on Indian art and culture. Dr. Daljeet is the curator of the Miniature Painting Gallery, National Museum, New Delhi. They have both collaborated together on a number of books.