There
is a life-like quality in this statue of Shiva meditating above a burial mound,
liberating the Atman within from the darkness of ignorance by dissolving the bond
of ego. He is shown legs crossed in full lotus (dhyanasana), seated on the skin
of a howling tiger, which has a protruding head that reveals an intriguingly hollowed
interior. The left hand of Shiva is resting on his knee in the earth-pointing
gesture (bhumisparsa), and right hand raised in no-fear (abhaya mudra), in which
five delicately modeled fingers gracefully imparting a shakti evoking swastika
in an opened palm. His
youthful and robust figure is sculpted with subtle naturalism and great precision,
adorned with arm bracelets, three strands of beads on his chest, and a spirited
cobra garlanded around his neck. The face of Shiva is rendered with a high level
of realism that constitutes a hieratic countenance. His full lips are well delineated,
and there appears to be a traces of saffron or red pigment, as is also found on
the swastika, and on the tiger tongue. His large eyes and double eyelids are definitively
of Tibetan design; of which are casting downward in a detached inward gaze, a
direct contrast to the powerful third eye in the ajna chakra, which symbolizes
the wisdom to annihilates desire. Also on his forehead is a tilaka drawn with
sacred ash (bhasma), a three-lined symbol that constitutes the Holy Trinity Shiva,
Brahma and Vishnu. A crescent moon that symbolizes perfection is pinned to the
right of the three-knotted braid, where deeply chased paralleled hairlines fall
around his shoulders and run covering his back.
As
Shiva is said to have hair like molten gold sunset reflected in the Ganges River.
Incidentally over flickers of amber hue on the earth tone patina, an intriguing
effect of a matted gold sheen is found on the hair and face of the statue. A
clear indication of a high volume of copper mixture in the metal alloy, which
is consistent with statues created in Newar of Nepal. Evidently, the
repoussè of a three-spoked “triskele” inside a large
double-vajra on the base plate confirmed that the statue was made in a Tibetan
workshop, and it has
been consecrated with a ritual blessing (rab gnas) by a lama or Rinpoche. In
terms of style and iconography, this finely cast Shiva is a perfect fusion of
Hinduism and Buddhism in the Kathmandu region where Buddhism and Hinduism meet.
Private
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