This triad represents the three principal deities of Hinduism. In the center is Shiva, the god of destruction, whose central position indicates the sculpture’s sectarian emphasis. Shiva has an ascetic’s hairstyle and has four arms that hold his symbolic attributes. His upper right hand holds a rosary. His upper left hand holds a trident. His lower hands are now broken. Shiva’s mount, the bull Nandi, looks up at him in adoration. Shiva is flanked on his left by Brahma, the god of creation. Brahma has four heads, but the fourth is at the rear and not visible. He has four arms. His upper left holds a staff. He carries an ascetic’s water pot in his lower left hand. He holds a rosary in his lower right hand. His upper right hand is broken but may have held a ritual ladle. Brahma’s mount, the gander, is on his right. On his left is a kneeling figure representing the donor of the sculpture. To Shiva’s right is Vishnu. He is crowned and wears a long forest garland (vanamala) that hangs below his knees. He has four arms. In his upper left hand he holds a discus. He carries a conch in his lower left hand. He holds a mace in his upper right hand. His lower right hand is held with the palm open in the gesture of charity (varada mudra). Vishnu’s mount, the half-avian Garuda, kneels beside him with his hands joined in the gesture of devotion (anjali mudra). Each deity wears the Brahmanical sacred thread (yajnopavita), stands on a lotus and is backed by a flaming aureole.
