- Title
- Shiva with Uma and Skanda
- Date Made
- 11th century
- Medium
- Copper alloy
- Dimensions
- 22 1/8 x 24 5/8 x 10 1/2 in. (56.19 x 62.54 x 26.67 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.72.98
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
This iconographic form of the Hindu god Shiva with his wife Uma and (the now-missing standing image) of their child Skanda is termed Somaskanda (sa [with] Uma [and] Skanda) in canonical literature. This was the prevailing iconic representation in stone and bronze sculpture of Shiva’s holy family during the Pallava Dynasty (275-897) and Chola Dynasty (848–1279). The presence of lugs on the side of the tiered pedestal likely indicates the bronze originally had a large aureole (prabhavali). The two holes in the lower border of the pedestal were used to tie the bronze onto poles for parading during festival processions.
Shiva has an ascetic’s piled hair (jata mukuta) and a third eye of wisdom (jñana netra) in his forehead. He wears standard jewelry, including the Brahmanical sacred thread (yajñopavita) worn over his left shoulder. Shiva sits in a relaxed posture (lalita asana) with his right leg pendant. He has four arms. In his upper right hand, he would have originally held a now-missing battle axe. In his upper left hand, he would have held a now-lost deer. His lower right hand is held in the gesture of reassurance (abhaya mudra). His lower left hand is in the position of holding a flower (kataka mudra). Parvati wears a conical crown and sits in a mirror image of the relaxed posture with her left leg pendant. She has two arms. Her right hand displays the flower holding gesture. Her left hand is in the gesture of charity (varada mudra).
- Selected Bibliography
- Pal, Pratapaditya. Indian Sculpture, vol.2. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; University of California Press, 1988.