Ajanta Cave 2: Pancika and Hariti

INDIA, Maharashtra, Aurangabad

The sculpture of Pancika and Hariti is found within the protector shrine located to the right of the main shrine. Pancika, who is a yaksa, is often referred to as the Wealth Deity. Hariti, his wife, is said to have had 500 children and was known as the Child-Eating Demon, because of her desire to eat others’ children. The story of Hariti tells of how the Buddha hid her beloved youngest child in order to reprimand her for her heinous behavior. Hariti, experiencing great pain over the loss of her child, listened to the Buddha’s teachings and took refuge in the Buddha. She then vowed to assist mothers to have safe childbirths and to protect their infants, thereafter becoming a widely worshipped deity.
Both figures wear headdresses and ornaments, and sit in a variation of the relaxation posture, with the right leg extended down. A sacred thread hangs diagonally from Pancika’s left shoulder to his right waist, and he holds a money sack in his right hand. Above the left shoulder is a relief of him requesting a Dharma teaching. Hariti carries an auspicious fruit in her right hand, and a child sits in her lap. A niche above her right shoulder displays a relief of her paying respect to the Buddha. The children playing below the throne are probably the couple’s children. Attendants with whisks stand to the side of both Pancika and Hariti. A yaksa stands between them with a bird perched in the left hand.