Southwestern India, Karnataka / 1200s
A Guardian of Shiva
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs A Guardian of Shiva as sculpture (Southwestern India, Karnataka · 1200s).
A three-hooded cobra winds its way up the shaft, while another slithers through the sockets of the skull.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this sculpture as Chloritic schist.
The museum's collection notes: Guardians at Shiva temples sometimes appear as a form of the deity himself. Carved in the ornate style favored by kings of the Hoyshala dynasty (1026–1343), this four-armed figure holds a drum that indicates the ongoing passage of time in his upper right hand. In his upper left hand, he holds a staff surmounted by a decomposing head of the god of creation, Brahma. The soft contours of the face, complete with third eye of knowledge, temper his ferocity and create a gently alluring figure.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtA Guardian of ShivaOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.