Under the latest and popular online series of Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya entitled ‘Exhibit of the Week’ the ‘Nabaghunjar/ Nabagunjara’ collected from 2013, the Community of Folk, Odisha. It’s measurement Height- 32.5 cm and width- 41 cm, displayed in the audience as the second Exhibit of the month of August, 2022 through official website, Facebook, Instagram and twitter page of the IGRMS.
In this regard Praveen Kumar Mishra, Director, IGRMS said that In mythology, Nabagunjara is a creature formed by the fusion of nine different animal species. It is regarded to be a form assumed by Lord Vishnu. This object represents the figure of a wooden Nabagunjara that evident one of the highly skilful craftsmanship deriving from the state Odisha.
Nabagunjara characterizes the presence of a rooster as its head; elephants, tigers, and horses as its feet, and a raised human arm holding a wheel as its fourth limb. Furthermore, the creature has its neck resembling a peacock while the back is portrayed like the hump of a Bull. The waist portion features the lion and the tail as a serpent.
The word "Naba" means Nine, "Gun" means quality, and "Jara" means old, and the metaphor of which represents the nine qualities of pride and admiration. Rooster has the quality of leadership and makes people vigilant and awaken, Peacock symbolizes beauty while the hump of a bull illustrates the quality of purity and devotion. The body of a lion depicts majesty while the leg of an elephant stands for the quality of stability. The leg of a tiger represents fast and swiftness, and the leg of a horse qualifies as gentleness. Finally, the human hand with a wheel is set to project the quality of a spiritual quest while the snake-like tail reckons a quality of a balanced decision.
According to the Hindu epic of Mahabharata, when Pandavas was in Vanaprastha, Arjuna encountered a strange creature fused with nine different animals. He was enthralled and raised his bow to shoot the creature, but an anonymous voice stopped him. When he noticed the figure holding a wheel in his right hand, he realised that it was a symbol of Lord Krishna. He immediately lowered his bow.
