Brahma-Shiva
900s
- Medium
- granite
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Dimensions
- Overall: 162.6 x 48 cm (64 x 18 7/8 in.)
- Culture
- South India, Tamil Nadu, Chola dynasty, late 10th - early 11th century
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Indian and Southeast Asian Art
- Credit line
- Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund, this work was accepted in honor of Stanislaw Czuma in recognition of his long service to the CMA
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
In the Hindu pantheon Brahma is in charge of carrying out the work of creation. In this tour-de-force of South Indian temple sculpture, he is in a special regal aspect, with the only elements of his typical priestly appearance being the prayer beads and the matted dreadlocks piled on his head.
Four arms connote superhuman power, and four heads convey the idea that his creative activities spread in all four directions. His upper right hand enjoins freedom from fear, and the lower holds a lotus bud associated with birth and the process of creation. His lowered left hand is held in the gift-giving gesture, suggestive of the gift of creation he will bestow upon the world.
