Vaikuntha Kamalaja

Vaikuntha-Kamalaja (or Lakshmi-Narayana) is a composite androgynous form of the Hindu god Vishnu and his consort Lakshmi. Though inspired by the much more popular Ardhanarishvara form of the god Shiva, Vaikuntha-Kamalaja is a rare form, mostly restricted to Nepal and the Kashmir region of India.

Like Ardhanarishvara, Vaikuntha-Kamalaja is depicted as half male and half female, split down the middle. The right half is the male Vishnu, illustrating his traditional attributes. The icon symbolises the oneness or non-duality of male and female principles of the universe. Unlike the Ardhanarishvara icon much celebrated in Hindu scriptures, Vaikuntha-Kamalaja is mentioned in few Tantric and iconographical texts and no tale of the origins of this form is found in Hindu legends.

The androgynous form of Vishnu is known by several names including: Vaikuntha Kamalaja, (Vaikuntha is the abode of Vishnu, here name of the Vishnu side and Kamalaja is "she who is born of a lotus" – Lakshmi), Vaishnava Ardhanari ("the Ardhanari – "half-woman" of the Vaishnava sect, which is dedicated to Vishnu), Ardhanari-Narayana ("Narayana (Vishnu) who is half-female"), Ardhanari-Vishnu ("Vishnu who is half-woman"), Ardha-Lakshmi-Narayana ("Vishnu who is half-Lakshmi"), Vasudeva-Kamalaja ("Vishnu-Lakshmi"), Vasudeva Lakshmi ("Vishnu-Lakshmi") and Ardha-Lakshmi-Hari ("Hari (Vishnu) who is half-Lakshmi").

The concept as well as iconography of Vaikuntha-Kamalaja is derived from Ardhanarishvara – the popular androgynous form of the god Shiva and his consort Parvati. P. Pal suggests that the concept of Vaikuntha-Kamalaja originated in Eastern India and then migrated to Nepal, however according to Deo, the concept originated in medieval Nepal, which D. C. Sircar refutes citing an 11th-century Gaya inscription. A late 11th century inscription of the local ruler Yakshapala in the Shitala Gaya Temple in Gaya, India says that Yakshapala built the temple to house a number of deities, including Kamalardhangina-Narayana, "Narayana (Vishnu) whose half body is Kamala ("Lakshmi"). According to another theory, Kashmir was the birthplace of Vaikuntha-Kamalaja. Although relevant Indian texts and icons of Vaikuntha-Kamalaja are found in Nepal, hardly any exist in India except Kashmir. Some notable Indian icons of Vaikuntha-Kamalaja are found at Bijbehara (late 10th–11th century), Anantnag, Kashmir; Jaintipur, Haryana; Baijnath Temple, Himachal Pradesh (1204 CE) and the Sayana Thakura icon of Jagannath Temple, Puri.

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