Editing Balarama (section)

==Iconography==
{{multiple image
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 | footer = Above: 11th-century art showing Balarama with [[Subhadra]] and [[Vāsudeva]] (Krishna). Below: Abstract icons of the three in the Jagannath tradition.
 | image1 = 11th century Balarama, Lakshmi (Shubadra), Vasudeva (Krishna, Jagannath).jpg
 | image2 = 3 icons Jagannath Balabhadra Shubhadra.jpg
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[[File:Popular print, album (BM 2003,1022,0.71 1).jpg|thumb|Late 19th century lithograph from Bengal depicting Krishna & Balarama. Instead of the plough, Balarama holds a bugle made out of buffalo-horn, a characteristic of Shaiva ascetics, based on the description of [[Nityananda]], who is revered by [[Gaudiya Vaishnavism|Gaudiya Vaishnavas]] as Balarama's incarnation.  ]]

Balarama is depicted as light-skinned, in contrast to his brother, Krishna, who is dark-skinned; Krishna in Sanskrit means dark.<ref name="JonesRyan2006p65">{{cite book|author1=Constance Jones|author2=James D. Ryan|title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OgMmceadQ3gC&pg=PA65 |year=2006|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-0-8160-7564-5|pages=65–66}}</ref> His ''ayudha'' or weapons are the [[plough]] ''hala'' and the [[Mace (bludgeon)|mace]] ''gadā''. The plough is usually called Balachita.<ref>{{cite book|title=India through the ages|url=https://archive.org/details/indiathroughages00mada|last=Gopal|first=Madan|year= 1990| page= [https://archive.org/details/indiathroughages00mada/page/75 75]|editor=K.S. Gautam|publisher=Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India}}</ref> He often wears blue garments and a [[garland]] of forest flowers. His hair is tied in a topknot and he has earrings, bracelets and armlets; he is known for his strength, the reason for his name; Bala means strength in Sanskrit.<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2009-04-26 |title=Bala, Bāla, Balā, Bālā: 78 definitions |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/bala |access-date=2022-11-27 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref>

In the [[Jagannath]] tradition, one particularly popular in eastern and central regions of India, he is more often called Balabhadra. Balarama is one in the triad, wherein Balarama is shown together with his brother Jagannath (Krishna) and sister Subhadra ([[Subhadra]]). Jagannath is identifiable from his circular eyes compared to an oval of Shubhadra and almond-shaped eyes of the abstract icon for Balarama. Further, Balarama's face is white, Jagannath's icon is dark, and Subhadra icon is yellow. The third difference is the flat head of Jagannath icon, compared to the semi-circular carved head of abstract Balarama.<ref name=donaldson779>{{cite book|author=Thomas E. Donaldson|title=Tantra and Śākta Art of Orissa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2otOAAAAYAAJ|year=2002|publisher=DK Printworld|isbn=978-81-246-0198-3|pages=779–780}}</ref> The shape of Balabhadra's head, also called Balarama or Baladeva in these regions, varies in some temples between somewhat flat and semi-circular.<ref name=donaldson779/><ref>{{cite book|author=O. M. Starza|title=The Jagannatha Temple at Puri: Its Architecture, Art, and Cult|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v4bV3beb0n8C |year=1993|publisher=BRILL Academic|isbn=90-04-09673-6|pages=61–64 with footnotes}}</ref>

===Sculpture===
<gallery>
File:Chaturvuyha Sankarshan Vasudeva 2nd century CE, Mathura Museum.jpg|[[Chatur-vyūha]]: Balarama, with serpent hood and drinking cup, to the right of [[Vasudeva-Krishna]]. 2nd century CE, [[Art of Mathura]].
File:Diety wearing Chang Kben, Phnom Da, Angkor Borei, Cambodia.jpg|6th century Balarama from Phnom Da, Angkor Borei, Takeo, [[Cambodia]]. Now exhibits at [[National Museum of Cambodia]].
File:Balarama - Mediaeval Period - Swami Ghat - ACCN 49-3210 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5342.JPG|Balarama, Medieval period, Mathura
File:Balarama from Badoh, Medieval period.jpg|Balarama from Badoh, Medieval period
File:Balarama - Circa 18th Century CE - ACCN 80-6 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5347.JPG|Balarama, 18th century, Mathura
</gallery>

===Temples===
* [[Kendrapara]], [[Baladevjew Temple]], Odisha
* [[Ananta Vasudeva Temple]]
* Kathmandu temples, [[Nepal]]<ref>{{cite journal | last=Guy | first=John | title=New Evidence for the Jagannātha Cult in Seventeenth Century Nepal | journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society | publisher=Cambridge University Press | volume=2 | issue=2 | year=1992 | doi=10.1017/s135618630000239x | pages=213–230| s2cid=162316166 }}</ref>
* [[Hathras Fort|Shri Dauji Mandir]], [[Hathras]], [[Uttar Pradesh]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=श्री दाऊजी मंदिर {{!}} Shri Dauji Mandir {{!}} Hathras Uttar Pradesh {{!}} About, Aarti, Timings, History, Photo, How to Reach|url=https://www.bhaktibharat.com/mandir/dauji-hathras|access-date=2020-11-22|website=BhaktiBharat.com|language=hi}}</ref>