The statue is of Dwara-devi, the celestial doorkeeper flanking temple doors. Like its presiding deity or deities, temples had their various parts adorned with subordinate figures, mostly from the same spiritual mythology, known in the tradition as Gandharvas, yakshas, kinnaras, apsaras etceteras. As these semi-divinities attended to gods in the Indraloka, their presence in a temple called deva laya, or the abode of god, was as much relevant. Thus, in the classical tradition, a fully evolved temple was required to have its various parts adorned with them. Lesser evolved temples had at least their entrances, the main as well as those of the sanctums, adorned with the statues of these celestial beings.
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