Aradhya-II

Shiva is a contemporary sculptural marvel. Looking into the eyes of this piece is like staring into the eyes of Shiva himself. The detached and aloof expression on his handsome, boyish face show him to be a true King of Gods.
In five of his eight hands he holds a noose, mace, drum, cobra and trident. The trident represents the Hindu trinity of Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu. It is also said to represent the threefold qualities of nature: creation, preservation and destruction. He holds a cobra symbolizing the power he has over the most deadly of creatures. Snakes are also used to symbolize the Hindu dogma of reincarnation. The drum represents the rhythmic sound to which Shiva dances and ceaselessly recreates the universe.
The front left hand is in the abhaya-mudra, the "fear not" gesture, made by holding the palm outward with fingers pointing up. The front right arm is across the chest in the gahahasta (elephant trunk) pose, with the wrist limp and the fingers pointed downward toward the demon Apasmara.
The contrasting elements of the rough (gray) stone and the polished (dark) stone bring an added element to the beautiful piece. All the fine details are rough cut giving them a gray appearance. From Shiva's ornate headdress, his hair, earrings, rudraksha beads around his neck, bangles, lotus flower on his palm, his loin cloth down to the fine details on the demon Apasmara are all carved wonderfully in rough cut stone. This contrasts beautifully with all Shiva's skin which is polished to be a darker color.
Even the fine form of Apasmara is carved to perfection. He seems to be squirming under the weight of Shiva as he holds his cobra. His little legs writhe as his two short fangs protrude in discomfort caused by Shiva as he dances his "ignorant" form away.



The dancing form or Shiva is wonderful! This pose has all the grace of a Nataraja sculpture. Shiva seems to balance on the head of the elephant with his one leg as the other is lifted up as though he were skipping. His body is thrown back in ecstasy with his arms spread out in a fan of seeming joy. His fangs are exposed showing him to be terrifying. Shiva again displays his dualistic nature by being both joyous and terrifying at the same time.
The surrounding carcass of the elephant is a marked contrast from the Nataraja sculpture's cosmic arch. Look at the large "O" that is formed by the elephants tail on top of the piece. In his left hand he holds a cobra, and a scalp. In his right hand he holds a Dhamru or drum, which is a symbol of the beat in which creation takes place, a knife and trident. Shiva's trident is a symbol of the Hindu trinity of Shiva, Brahma and Vishnu. His remaining two hands are holding the fiery carcass of the elephant.
This sculpture is called Gajasamharam - Shiva Dancing on elephant, in Tamil.
The Stories Behind the Sculpture:
In Varanasi, India there was a demon in the form of an elephant who was harassing the saints and devotees of Shiva during their prayer. Shiva then destroyed the elephant-demon for the lack of respect. Thus the name, Gajasamharam, Sanskrit for "Killing the Elephant."
Another story with Shiva battling an elephant is part of the story of the Nataraja. There were rishis and priests living in the forest known as 'Tharukavanam', they became very arrogant as they had mastered all the 'Vedas', 'Agamas' and 'Shastras' and could raise powerful creatures from the sacrificial fires to do their bidding. Lord Shiva wished to show these rishis their limitations and appeared as a handsome mendicant with Vishnu as his wife 'Mohini'. This created chaos in 'Tharukavanam' as the wives of the rishis fell under the spell of this charming, handsome mendicant while the youthful rishis fell for the allure of Mohini. The older rishis became very angry and wanted to destroy the pair. They raised a sacrificial fire, 'Homam', from which appeared a tiger which was directed at the pair. Lord Shiva killed the tiger, peeled off its skin and tied it around his waist. They raised an elephant which they sent against Lord Shiva, which Shiva destroyed. Then the rishis produced a poisonous serpent, which Lord Shiva caught and wore around his neck. The rishis also sent a demon, 'Muyalakan', against Lord Shiva whom he crushed under his feet. Then the rishis sent the sacrificial fire against him which he put on his left hand. The rishis having lost the fire sent the Vedic 'mantras' which the Lord wore around his ankles. At this the rishis conceded defeat and the Lord revealed himself by dancing the 'Oorthava thandavam' with his matted hair unfurling in all eight directions and the world reverberating to his steps.




"May this obeisance be directed to the Blessed Dakshinamurti to Him who takes the guise of the auspicious Guru, to Him whose eight-fold Form is this entire motionless and mobile cosmos, manifesting as earth, water, fire, air, ether, the sun, the moon and the soul; beyond whom, all-pervading and supreme, there exists nothing else for those who truly search!"

Dakshinamurti is Shiva in his aspect as the universal teacher, teaching the secrets of yoga, tantras, yantras, alchemy, magic, occult knowledge, arts and sciences, ancient history or knowledge of the future to the sages and saints, gods and goddesses and his highly qualified devotees. Shiva teaches sitting on the snowy mountains of the Himalayas. He faces south towards the Indian subcontinent. Dakshinamurti literally translated means "south Facing Lord" The southern direction is an auspicious direction to face. By Shiva teaching with his body pointed to the southern direction he is basically showing to everyone that he is a god and thus above any worldly traditions.
The images of Dakshinamurti, depict Shiva in his pleasant mood, seated on a high rock seat, with one leg folded while the other rests on the Apasmarapurusha, the deluded self. Two of his arms hold a snake or drum or both in one hand and fire in the other. The snake is a symbol of tantric knowledge and the fire symbol of enlightenment. His remaining right hand is in abhayamudra posture of assurance and the other holds a copy of scripture in gnanamudra posture of presenting knowledge.

There is an interesting legend behind the conception of Shiva as Nataraja: In a dense forest in South India, there dwelt multitudes of heretical sages. Thither proceeded Shiva to confute them, accompanied by Vishnu disguised as a beautiful woman. The sages were at first led to violent dispute amongst themselves, but their anger was soon directed against Shiva, and they endeavored to destroy him by means of incantations. A fierce tiger was created in sacrificial fires, and rushed upon him; but smiling gently, he seized it and, with the nail of his little finger, stripped off its skin, and wrapped it about himself like a silken cloth. Undiscouraged by failure, the sages renewed their offerings, and produced a monstrous serpent, which however Shiva seized and wreathed about his neck like a garland. Then he began to dance; but there rushed upon him a last monster in the shape of a malignant dwarf. Upon him the god pressed the tip of his foot, and broke the creature’s back, so that it writhed upon the ground; and so, his last foe prostrate, Shiva resumed the dance.

Shiva is dancing on a dwarf-demon. The demon’s name is Apasmara-Purusha, the name when translated into English means a forgetful and lazy demon. The demon is supposed to be highly ignorant and a trouble creator. He was causing lots of problems to people and they prayed to Shiva to save them from the demon’s bad deeds. Shiva appears on the world and kills him. Apasmara-Purusha is a symbol of laziness, forgetfulness, bad feelings, and evil thoughts that all of us have within us. The important message in this story is not whether a demon by the name Apasmara-Purusha existed or whether a god called Shiva appeared on the world and killed him and then danced on him. It is a symbol to communicate to us a greater message -- get rid of your dark thoughts – jealousy, envy, hatred and laziness. If you do so, you will live happily and peacefully. This is a message that appealed to the ancient Hindus and it is a message that is useful to us even today, after thousands of years later. The Shiva’s dance is just an attractive way to convey this message.



Shiva is captured dancing in ecstasy upon his vehicle Nandi. His ten arms are spread out like the rays of the sun amplifying the energy Shiva is releasing upon those in his presence. In eight of his ten arms he holds various weapons and snakes, the most notable is the large sword raised above his head menacingly, warning anything that would challenge his supreme power.
Nandi stands unflinching, his head looking up to his master, Shiva, under his heavy foot. The large hump in his back is wrinkled with the weight of Shiva's foot. The folds of extra skin hanging loosely under his neck give the bull added realism.
The awesome base boasts 13 figures. Included among them are Shiva's sons Skanda and Ganesh as well as numerous other devotees among them Nandikeshvar, the human form of Shiva's vehicle, Nandi. On the arch next to one of Shiva's right hands is Lakshmi riding her vehicle, the owl.

A wonderful statue of Shiva with 6 arms dancing on Apasmara the dwarf of ignorance with Nandikeshvar. Nandikeshvar is Shiva's white bull, Nandi in human form. The details of the piece are very impressive especially Shiva's elaborate demon faced trident as well as the serpent adorning the rear of the sculpture.
The light green veins of stone that are on both sides of the base contrast beautifully with the rich red hue of the stone.