With matted locks arranged as if they were flames and a bowl made from a skull in his left hand, Shiva appears truly ferocious. A garland of skulls crosses his chest and he wears only a serpent in place of a loincloth.
The skull-bowl recalls Shiva’s Bhairava form, in which he appears as a beggar or an ascetic. When Shiva cut off one of the heads of the god Brahma, Brahma’s skull stuck to his left hand. As penance for striking another god, Shiva wandered the earth seeking alms until the skull fell away. This terrifying guise may also represent Shiva in his Kshetrapala form, as the protector of a temple.
Details
- Title: Terrifying Form of Shiva
- Date: c. 1000
- Medium: Bronze
- Dimensions: 9 in. (22.9 cm)
- Credit Line: The Norton Simon Foundation
- Accession Number: F.1972.25.1.S
- Copyright: © The Norton Simon Foundation
Object Information
- Dehejia, Vidya, Asian Art: Selections from the Norton Simon Museum, fig. 11 p. 44
- Pal, Pratapaditya, Asian Art at the Norton Simon Museum, Volume 1: Art from the Indian Subcontinent, 2003, no. 173a pp. 242-243
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. 827 p. 342
Image reproduction permission may be granted for scholarly or arts related commercial use. All image requests, regardless of their intended purpose, should be submitted via the reproduction request form.
Images may be protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights. Additional permission may be required.
Please allow up to four weeks for your request to be reviewed. Approved requests for the reproduction of an image will receive a contract detailing all fees and conditions of use of the image. Upon receipt of both the signed contract and full payment, the Office of Rights and Reproductions will provide the image. A complimentary copy of the published material must be provided to the Norton Simon Museum.