Brass Sculptures Of Shiva

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Lord Shiva is the wild matted-haired ascetic, yet he is also the ideal family man and householder with a wife, goddess Parvati, and their two sons Ganesha and Karttikeya. Shiva contains within himself all opposites, and is even described as half male and half female (Ardhanarishvara). He is sometimes described as the god of destruction, part of the ‘Hindu trinity’ with Brahma as creator and Vishnu as sustainer, but for his devotees he is the supreme Lord who creates, maintains and destroys the cosmos. He conceals his true nature from humanity, yet, at the same time, can reveal his nature as an act of grace.

Shiva is especially worshipped and popularly depicted in the following forms:

1). As the Lord of Yoga meditating on Mount Kailasha in the Himalayas. Often in sculptures, the Mt. Kailasha is depicted in a symbolic manner. He is portrayed with a third eye with which he burned Desire (Kama), with his matted locks in a chignon, a crescent moon in his hair, the Ganges pouring from his locks, garlanded by a snake and sacred Rudraksha beads, seated upon a tiger skin and holding a trident.

2). Shiva as the family man with his wife, the goddess Parvati, and their two sons, Karttikeya and the elephant-headed Ganesha, with the sacred bull Nandi, standing nearby.

3). Shiva as Nataraja, the Lord of the Dance, who, in his awesome dance which expresses his boundless energy, creates, maintains and destroys the cosmos. In such sculptures, Shiva is four-armed, dancing upon the dwarf of ignorance (Apasmara) within a circle of flames.

4). As the aniconic Shiva linga found in most Hindu temples. The linga is symbolic of the union of Shiva with his dynamic energy or Shakti.