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20. Shiva as Chandrashekhara, India, Tamil Nadu, Vijayanagar 14th c. Bronze, cast in the lost wax method height 54 cm. |
In the Hindu trinity, Shiva is the god of destruction and creation. In his manifestation as Chandrashekhara he expresses the quality of raja, the basis for the active principle in creation. ‘Chandrashekhara’ means ‘with the moon (chandra) as head ornament (shekhara)’. In the present sculpture the small crescent moon is on the left of Shiva’s high-piled coiffure (jatamukuta). The moon is the vessel containing soma, the elixir of immortality. According to the myths, the gods drank most of this, leaving just a little (slender crescent moon) for mankinds’s ancestors. Shiva stands firmly on straight, parallel legs in samabhanga on a circular lotus throne supported by a rectangular base. Around his waist is s a band (udarabandha) which reinforces the impression of restrained power in his chest and broad shoulders. His foremost hands display his benignity – he makes the gesture of abhayamudra, removing fear, with his right hand, and varadamudra, bestowing favours, with his left. In his raised hands are the axe and deer , symbols derived from his former manifestation as Rudra, the hunter. Now they rather refer to his oneness with nature. Shiva wears his hair piled in a high jatamukuta, large locks of hair adorned with diadems; he has flowers above his ear, and on his forehead is a vertically placed urna or third eye. The patrakundala, the circular earring in his left ear, alludes to his feminine aspect. In his right ear is a makarakundala in the shape of a water monster’s head. Shiva’s rich ornamentation comprises concentric rows of necklaces, the sacred thread, the udarabhanda, a girdle with a clasp in the shape of a lion’s head, folded ribbons at the hips, armbands, bracelets and anklets. The vertical pins protruding from the base would once have supported a bronze aureole. The holes in the lower part of the throne are designed for the rods by which the sculpture was carried in procession. The Islamic occupation of southern India in the fourteenth century was followed by a period of fine artistic production of Hindu temple images in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The reconstruction, renewal and enlargement of the old sanctuaries gave space for the founding of new temples and the production of statues. The capital was the fabulous city of Vijayanagar, occupying a high rock plateau. Based on Chola traditions, the art of Vijayanagar achieved a high level of technical casting and artistic assurance, and among their works are some of the finest ever produced in south India. Based upon Chola characteristics this Shiva reveals the typical Vijayanagar stylistic elements. The extremely fine casting, the design of the fine jewellery, the flowers above the ears, the shape of the conical karandamukuta, the construction of the meditation cord, the three necklaces, the fine chiselled finish, and the sharply defined features are typical of a classic bronze of the early Vijayanagar period. This lively image of Shiva as the God of creation is poised in a graceful standing posture. The bronze is superbly cast with fine volumes, perfect balance, and every part, down to the smallest detail, seems to have its own particular place in a harmonious ensemble in which the dynamic is evident from every angle. The piece is a fine and classic example of its period, an important temple bronze revealing the high artistic levels and technical skills of the south Indian masters in the Vijayanagar period. Provenance: Collection Carl Kraag, Italy. Art Loss Register Certificate, Reference S00000846. C. Sivaramamurti, South Indian Bronzes, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, 1981. P.R. Srinivasan, Bronzes of South India, vol. VIII, Bulletin of the Madras Government Museum, Madras, 1994. |