Uma-mahesvara on Nadi [sic] Bull. Pratihara, 10th-11th Centuries
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Photographer: Arthur Llewellyn Basham
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One of the most popular aspects of the Great Lord Siva and his wife Parvati (also called Uma or by her Divine Mother title of Mahesvara) shows the divine couple seated together on a throne formed by the god's faithful vehicle, the Nandi Bull, and talking over the subjects of love and metaphysics. Many sacred texts, particularly the Tantras, take the form of dialogues in which Siva is instructing Parvati. This composition, in which the two gods sit closely beside one another and are surrounded by their divine hosts, is well handled in terms of both spatial relationships and proper balance. Indian sculptors in general, and Hindu sculptors in particular, were experts in arranging their figures in this manner. The metallic precision known to Pala and Rashtrakuta sculpture has reappeared and, for the most part, remains a basic underlying feature of Hindu sculpture during the medieval period. -- Gujjar Kheri. New Delhi, National Museum.
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Basham Collection
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circa 1970s
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This item is provided for research purposes. Contact the Australian National University Archives at butlin.archives@anu.edu.au for permission to use.
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