Untitled

Unknown

dated 1045 · Copper alloy · Asian Art

Shiva linga are variously represented as an unadorned pillar or with one, four, or five heads of Shiva. This linga altar has a four-faced form (chaturmukha). It is banded, likely with munja grass holy to Shiva, alluding to the taming of Shiva’s phallic energies through his supreme asceticism achieved by yogic practices (tapas). The Newari inscription states that King Bhaskaradeva gave the altar in the year Samvat 166.

Artist

Unknown

Date

dated 1045

Medium

Copper alloy

Culture

Nepal (Kathmandu Valley)

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Samuel Eilenberg Collection, Gift of Samuel Eilenberg, 1987