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Site Name: Thanjavur

Date: 1100-1199 CE

Subject: Candrasekhara, standing, front. Shiva is referred to as Candrasekhara or 'the lord whose locks are crowned with crescent moon' where he is shown in a benevolent form.

Site Name:

Date: 1200-1299 CE

Subject: Parvati, standing

Site Name:

Date: 1100-1199 CE

Subject: Bhairavi Kali

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Date: 1300-1399 CE

Subject: Meykandar: Meykandar was the thirteenth century Tamil theologian, author or translator from the Raurava Agama of the Shivajnanbodham. He founded the Meykandar Sampradya of pluralistic Saiva Siddhanta.

Site Name:

Date: 1400-1499 CE

Subject: Vishnu, seated: This bronze depicts Vishnu on a lotus throne in the position of royal ease known as lalitasana. The rear hands hold the discus and a conch shell, one front hand is lowered in the varada gesture of wish-granting, while the other rests in an elegant gesture upon his folded knee.

Site Name:

Date: 1400-1499 CE

Subject: Vishnu, seated: This bronze depicts Vishnu on a lion throne in the position of royal ease known as lalitasana. The rear hands hold the discus and a conch shell, one front hand is lowered in the varada gesture of wish-granting, while the other rests in an elegant gesture upon his folded knee. This is the back view of the image.

Site Name:

Date: 1400-1499 CE

Subject: Bhudevi: Bhudevi is the Earth Goddess who is Vishnu's consort and whom he rescued from the depths of the cosmic ocean in his incarnation as the great boar, Varaha. The goddess wears a conical crown (karanda makuta), strings of pearls and abundant jewelry and the marriage symbol (tali) above the three necklaces.

Site Name:

Date: 1400-1499 CE

Site Name:

Date: 1300-1399 CE

Subject: Balakrishna: Balakrishna or Child Krishna was a favorite with several of the Vaishnava saints. This is the most popular imagery for child Krishna as a dancing infant, with one hand in the divine gesture of protection (abhaya) and the other stretched out in the movement of the dance. Clothing is absent and child Krishna is clad only in ornaments that include the traditional girdle of bells and range of necklaces, armlets, and anklets.

Site Name:

Date: 1000-1099 CE

Subject: Bhairava: Bhairava is considered to be one of the violent forms of Shiva. He is so called as he protects the universe (bharana) and is also terrific (bhishana). He carries sula (trident), pasa (noose), damaru (drum) and kapal in his four hands and rides a dog. He is shown nude with a third eye and hair of flames.

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Date: 1000-1099 CE

Site Name: Adambar

Date: 1300-1399 CE

Subject: Vishnu, Sridevi and Bhudevi: An image of Vishnu with consorts Bhudevi and Sridevi on either side of Vishnu. Bhudevi is Mother Earth and Sridevi is the goddess of wealth and knowledge.

Site Name: Adambar

Date: 1300-1399 CE

Subject: Vishnu, Sridevi and Bhudevi: An image of Vishnu with consorts Bhudevi and Sridevi on either side of Vishnu. Bhudevi is Mother Earth and Sridevi is the goddess of wealth and knowledge. This is the backside of the image.

Site Name: Nagapattinam

Date: 1000-1099 CE

Subject: Buddha: In South India, the Buddhist and Jain faiths were quite vital in the Chola period. Buddhist monasteries attracted donations of individual images of the Buddha and Buddhist deities. The early arrival of Buddhism in south India is evident from the ancient Buddhist monastic sites that dot Godavari and Krishna basins of the Andhra region as well as literary sources. However with the upsurge of Shaiva nayanmars and the Vaishnava alvars, the power of Buddhists greatly reduced. Buddhism received new impetus during the eleventh century partly because of the arrival of a colony of Buddhists from the kingdom of Shrivijaya in Indonesia. In this image of Buddha, he has a serenely elegant face and elongated ear lobes, stands erect with his right hand raised in the abhaya gesture of protection and his left lowered in the varada gesture of wish granting. His head is covered with tiny curls, and rising from the top of the head in a stylized flame, characteristic of south Indian images of Buddha. His monastic robe covers his shoulders and the scalloped folds along its lower outer edges is a feature that becomes highly pronounced from the twelfth century onwards. Chola Buddhist bronzes are portable images intended for processional festivities as is evident from the holes in the Buddha's circular lotus pedestal intended to help hoist the image and the ceremonial aspects of Hindu and Buddhist images overlapped considerably. This is the front and the back view of the image.

Site Name:

Date: 1100-1199 CE

Subject: Parvati: Parvati is the consort of Shiva. Here her right hand is in kataka mudra; the left arm in lola hasta. The hair is dressed into a high bun. The patterned lower garment is worn with a girdle. Other details include a sacred cord, keyura armlets, makara kundala ear pendants, garlands on both shoulders, and padasaras on the feet. The figure stands on a circular lotus pedestal with holes for fixing the image to a processional carrier.

Site Name:

Date: 1300-1399 CE

Site Name:

Date: 1200-1299 CE

Site Name:

Date: 800-850 CE

Subject: Jyestha, seated: A granite panel, with an asymmetrical pointed arch at the top and a rectangular base. The largest of the three figures, in the center, is that of the female deity, Jyestha. She is seated wearing a skirt and the upper part of her body is bare. The figure on her right, now damaged, should be of a bull's head. The figure on her left is female, possibly Agnimatha.

Site Name:

Date: 900-999 CE

Subject: Dakshinamurti: Shiva as a teacher of yoga, music and other sciences he is known by the name of Dakshinamurti. The Apasmarapurusa (dwarf) under his foot is the personification of the ignorance of the living beings, which he keeps under subjugation beneath his foot.

Site Name:

Date: 800-825 CE

Subject: Vishnu: Vishnu stands in contrapposto, holding his attributes of discus and conch shell in his two rear hands. His front right hand is raised in the gesture of benediction, while the left hand rests casually against his thigh. Vishnu is richly adorned with jeweled ornaments and wears a tall cylindrical crown form.

Site Name:

Date: 800-825 CE

Site Name: Darasuram

Date: 1100-1199 CE

Subject: Gajantaka: In his Gajantaka form, Shiva is the slayer of the elephant demon. According to the story in the Kurmapurana, when the Brahmins near Banaras were engaged in worshiping the Shiva-linga, a demon, assuming the form of an elephant, began to disrupt the ceremonies. Shiva emerged from the linga, destroyed the elephant, and with the flayed skin made himself a garment. The elephant's skin forms an aureole for the god. Three of his eight arms are engaged in upholding the outstretched skin of the elephant. Of the remaining five, one displays the gesture of astonishment (vismayamudri), while the others hold the trident, the citron, the noose, and the drum. The figure also shows Shiva's consort Parvati and their son, Karttikeya who is attempting to scale her leg.

Site Name: Darasuram

Date: 1100-1199 CE

Site Name: Darasuram

Date: 1100-1199 CE

Subject: Chitrasena and Narada: This imagery alludes to the episode of Gandharva Chitrasena who was passing through the sky, spitting into the hands of the hermit, Kalava worshipping below. Narada devised a plan with Chitrasena to avoid Krishna's punishment of death for Chitrasena.

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Tanjore Art Gallery and Museum, Thanjavur