Brahma-Shiva (900s): Art, History and Details

Brahma-Shiva (900s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the 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.

Object facts

• Title: Brahma-Shiva
• Date: 900s
• Culture: South India, Tamil Nadu, Chola dynasty, late 10th - early 11th century
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: granite
• Dimensions: Overall: 162.6 x 48 cm (64 x 18 7/8 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art - Chola
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 2007.155

A detail from the museum

The back of the sculpture retains the original textured surface from a pointed chisel, suggesting it was in a niche or near a wall, protected from worshippers’ touches.

Collection credit

Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund, this work was accepted in honor of Stanislaw Czuma in recognition of his long service to the CMA

Further reading listed by the museum

• O. C. Gangoly, “Some Images of Brahma of the Chola Period,” Rupam, Nos. 35-36, July-October 1928, pp. 29-30.
• Eastman, Alvan C. “A Brahma Image of the X-XI Century.” Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts of the City of Detroit, vol. 10, no. 3, 1928, pp. 34–36
• Buffalo Fine Arts Academy Notes. vol. 21, no. 1 (May 1930).

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.