This elegant Shaiva figure was part of a deva-kostha or sculptural niche placed on the walls of a now-lost Shaiva shrine and is now housed in the Government Museum, Sikar. The figure has four hands, with the upper two holding a skull-scepter and cobras. In his lower left hand, he holds a cup, or rather a skull, with the fingers of the right hand dipping towards the potion contained within it. On the left is an image of vyala, which was once placed in the salilantara recess of the temple wall. Iconographically, the figure suggests a tantric influence. The potion held in the cup/skull represents the spiritual nectar of the bliss attained after the completion of tantric sadhana in both Shaiva and Buddhist tantric traditions.
Image courtesy: Government Museum, Sikar
Location:
Sikar
Date_accepted:
2024-05-09T07:52:49Z
Modified:
2024-05-09T10:52:15Z
Type:
Image
Creator:
Temples of India Project Team
Contributor:
Anchit Jain
Publisher:
Jio Institute
Rights:
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
References:
Rajasthan, Temples of India, Shakhambari Chahamanas, Harshnath Temple, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), and Sikar