CENTER FOR ART AND ARCHAEOLOGY

Subject: Bhairavi Kali

Subject: Bhudevi: Bhudevi is the Earth Goddess who is Vishnu's consort and whom he rescued from the depths of the cosmic ocean in his incarnation as the great boar, Varaha. The goddess wears a conical crown (karanda makuta), strings of pearls and abundant jewelry and the marriage symbol (tali) above the three necklaces.

Subject: Bhairava: Bhairava is considered to be one of the violent forms of Shiva. He is so called as he protects the universe (bharana) and is also terrific (bhishana). He carries sula (trident), pasa (noose), damaru (drum) and kapal in his four hands and rides a dog. He is shown nude with a third eye and hair of flames. This is the back side of the image.

Subject: Vishnu, Sridevi and Bhudevi: An image of Vishnu with consorts Bhudevi and Sridevi on either side of Vishnu. Bhudevi is Mother Earth and Sridevi is the goddess of wealth and knowledge.

Subject: Buddha: In South India, the Buddhist and Jain faiths were quite vital in the Chola period. Buddhist monasteries attracted donations of individual images of the Buddha and Buddhist deities. The early arrival of Buddhism in south India is evident from the ancient Buddhist monastic sites that dot Godavari and Krishna basins of the Andhra region as well as literary sources. However with the upsurge of Shaiva nayanmars and the Vaishnava alvars, the power of Buddhists greatly reduced. Buddhism received new impetus during the eleventh century partly because of the arrival of a colony of Buddhists from the kingdom of Shrivijaya in Indonesia. In this image of Buddha, he has a serenely elegant face and elongated ear lobes, stands erect with his right hand raised in the abhaya gesture of protection and his left lowered in the varada gesture of wish granting. His head is covered with tiny curls, and rising from the top of the head in a stylized flame, characteristic of south Indian images of Buddha. His monastic robe covers his shoulders and the scalloped folds along its lower outer edges is a feature that becomes highly pronounced from the twelfth century onwards. Chola Buddhist bronzes are portable images intended for processional festivities as is evident from the holes in the Buddha's circular lotus pedestal intended to help hoist the image and the ceremonial aspects of Hindu and Buddhist images overlapped considerably. This is the front and the back view of the image.

Subject: Vishnu: Vishnu stands in contrapposto, holding his attributes of discus and conch shell in his two rear hands. His front right hand is raised in the gesture of benediction, while the left hand rests casually against his thigh. Vishnu is richly adorned with jeweled ornaments and wears a tall cylindrical crown form.

Subject: Vishnu: Vishnu stands in contrapposto, holding his attributes of discus and conch shell in his two rear hands. His front right hand is raised in the gesture of benediction, while the left hand rests casually against his thigh. Vishnu is richly adorned with jeweled ornaments and wears a tall cylindrical crown form.

Subject: Trimurti: Trimurti is the triad of the three gods Shiva, Brahma and Vishnu.

Subject: Mahakala: Mahakala is the violent and vengeful aspect of Shiva. He is venerated as the annihilator in this form. His face radiates his wrathful nature. In his rear hands he carries the flesh-cutter (kartikka) and trident (trishula).

Subject: Bhairava: Bhairava is considered to be one of the violent forms of Shiva. He is so called as he protects the universe (bharana) and is also terrific (bhishana). He carries sula (trident), pasa (noose), damaru (drum) and kapal in his four hands and rides a dog. He is shown nude with a third eye and hair of flames.

Subject: Yama seated: Yama is mentioned in the Rig Veda as the son of Vivasvant and Saranyu, the daughter of Tvastar. Yama is amongst the first mortals to have died and found for race of men a heaven where they may rejoice in the company of the pious dead. In this capacity, therefore, he is called a king or samagamana jananam - the gatherer of men and ruler over the departed ancestors in the heaven. In post-Vedic mythology he is conceived as presiding over the region of the deceased and appointed as the judge of the wicked, in which capacity he is called Dharmaraja or Dharma. Yama in textual descriptions has been endowed with a terrific appearance, a staff (danda) and a noose in his hands and is provided with a buffalo as his mount. He is also one of the eight guardians of the universe, as the regent of the southern quarter.

Subject: Royal worshippers

Subject: Subrahmanya: Skanda as Subrahmanya is the South Indian god of war. Skanda has only one head and four arms, holding ritual weapons-head of a spear and a thunderbolt in his upper hands. The lower two hands are held in abhaya (gesture of fearlessness) and varada (favorable mudra) mudra.

Subject: Bhiksatana-Kankala (?) form holding a damaru, ganas playing musical instruments

Subject: Bhiksatana-Kankala: Bhiksatana manifestation of Shiva is often accompanied by women. As narrated in the Kurma Purdna, Shiva entered the Deodar (Daruvana) forest as a handsome, young man. The seven women believed to be wives of the Sapta Rishis readily give out alms to Shiva and excited by his presence, allow their garments to fall. The women begin to sing, dance, desire, and embrace Shiva. This is a detail of the women.

Subject: Bhiksatana-Kankala form: Kankalmurti is one of Shiva's manifestations. Here his front left hand holds a drum or damaru and his front right hand holds a bana, a short stick by which the drum is played. His back right hand is held in the kataka gesture, near the mouth of his pet deer. His back left arm holds a kankala-danda, a staff on which the bones of the arms and legs of the slain person are tied. His ornamentation includes multiple necklaces, a waistband, a scared thread, armlets, elbow bands, bangles, anklets and rings.

Subject: Bhiksatana-Kankala (?), detail, playing a drum

Subject: Bhiksatana-Kankala (?) with a musical instrument, detail

Subject: Bhiksatana-Kankala with a musical instrument (?), detail

Subject: Bhiksatana-Kankala (?), detail, playing a drum

Subject: Parvati, standing

Subject: Vishnu

Subject: Bhudevi: Bhudevi is the Earth Goddess who is Vishnu's consort and whom he rescued from the depths of the cosmic ocean in his incarnation as the great boar, Varaha.

Subject: Buddha seated: In South India, the Buddhist and Jain faiths were quite vital in the Chola period. Buddhist monasteries attracted donations of individual images of the Buddha and Buddhist deities. The early arrival of Buddhism in south India is evident from the ancient Buddhist monastic sites that dot Godavari and Krishna basins of the Andhra region as well as literary sources. However with the upsurge of Shaiva nayanmars and the Vaishnava alvars, the power of Buddhists greatly reduced. Buddhism received new impetus during the eleventh century partly because of the arrival of a colony of Buddhists from the kingdom of Shrivijaya in Indonesia. This is a seated figure of Buddha in dhyani-mudra (contemplation gesture). The robes cover only one shoulder.