VYALA

also called sardula popular motif in Indian art, consisting of a composite leonine creature with the head of a tiger, elephant, bird, or other animal, frequently shown in combat with human beings or pouncing upon an elephant. Essentially a solar symbol, it represents, like the eagle seizing the serpent, the triumph of the spirit over matter. Occurring in a relatively naturalistic form in the earliest monuments, notably the great stupa at Sanchi (c. 50 BC) and in the Kushan sculpture of Mathura (1st-3rd century AD), the vyala assumed a definite stylized form about the 5th century. From the 8th century onward, it was constantly employed in architectural decoration, being repeated, for example, on the walls of temples.