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Polished Bronze Somaskanda Statue with Arch 18"

Polished Bronze Somaskanda Statue with Arch 18"
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Materials: Lost Wax Method Polished South Indian Bronze

Total Height Including Base: 18 inches

Base Width & Depth: 16 x 7 inches

Weight: 43 pounds

Item # 7b5

  • Description
  • About Shiva
  • Video of Sculpture
  • Care

  • Shiva is seated next to his wife Parvati in a relaxed posture.  They are both seated on a raised base.  Shiva holds an axe and a deer.  Shiva's other two hands are held in front of him in the abhaya mudra position or "fear not" hand position.  Parvati is in a similar position to the form she takes as Bogashakti, "Boga" meaning pleasure and "Shakti" meaning energy.  This form embodies Devi's sexual energy.  She also holds a flower.  Between the heavenly couple stands their infant son, Murugan or Skanda.  He holds two flowers in his hands.  The stylish, heart shaped arch frames the piece beautifully.   Mahakala or "great time" is captured on the top of the flaming arch.  

    Somaskanda sculptures over the centuries have many different variations.  Some have Shiva and Parvati seated directly on the base.  Others, like this statue, have them raised up on a base over the main base. Skanda is showed both seated and standing.  In this version, along with his mother, he holds flowers.

    The Somaskanda Legend:  Legend has it that Vishnu, desirous of progeny, worshipped Shiva at Tiruvarur and that Shiva blessed him with a male child Kama. Parvati (Shakti), who was enraged by the fact that Vishnu had not included her in his worship of Shiva, inflicted a curse upon him that Vishnu's child would be burnt to death by Shiva. Upon realization of the curse, an aggrieved Vishnu created a composite image featuring Shiva, Uma and Skanda (Somaskanda - symbolic of fertility) and offered worship to it. Parvati alleviated the curse placed on him stating that despite being burnt to death, Kama would live on to create the forces of attraction between the male and the female that would ensure the continuation of the human race.  It is to be noted that Somaskanda represents the processional image of Shiva in most Saivite temples.

  • Shiva the Destroyer (Sanskrit: Auspicious One), or Siva, is one of the main Deities of Hinduism, worshipped as the paramount lord by the Saivite sects of India. Shiva is one of the most complex gods of India, embodying seemingly contradictory qualities. He is the destroyer and the restorer, the great ascetic and the symbol of sensuality, the benevolent herdsman of souls and the wrathful avenger.
    Shiva was originally known as Rudra, a minor deity addressed only three times in the Rig Veda.  He gained importance after absorbing some of the characteristics of an earlier fertility god and became Shiva, part of the trinity, or trimurti, with Vishnu and Brahma.
    Shiva wears a snake coiled around his upper arms and neck symbolizing the power he has over the most deadly of creatures. Snakes are also used to symbolize the Hindu dogma of reincarnation. Their natural process of molting or shedding their skin is symbolic of the human soul's transmigration of bodies from one life to another.
    Shiva's female consort and wife is Parvati; because of his generosity and reverence towards Parvati, Shiva is considered an ideal role model for a husband. The divine couple together with their sons - the six-headed Skanda and the elephant headed Ganesh - reside on Mount Kailasa in the Himalayas. 
    His guardian is Nandi (the white bull), whose statue can often be seen watching over the main shrine.  The bull is said to embody sexual energy, fertility.  Riding on its back, Shiva is in control of these impulses.
    He often holds a trident, which represents the Hindu trinity of Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu.  It is also said to represent the threefold qualities of nature: creation, preservation and destruction, although preservation is usually attributed to Vishnu.
    As the destroyer, Shiva is dark and terrible, encircled with serpents and a crown of skulls.
    Shiva often wears sacred Rudaksha beads, perhaps a reference to his earlier name Rudra.
    The crescent moon Shiva wears on his crown, besides being a symbol of Kama the goddess of nightly love, also represents the bull, Nandi, a fertility symbol.
    Shiva holds a skull that represents samsara, the cycle of life, death and rebirth.  Samsara is a central belief in Hinduism.  Shiva himself also represents this complete cycle because he is Mahakala, the Lord of Time, destroying and creating all things.
    Shiva is represented in a variety of forms.  One such form is as a lingam.  The ovoid shape is a representation of the absolute perfection of Lord Shiva - if that which is beyond form had to be given form, the lingam would be the closest form to the mystical experience of the absolute perfection of Shiva.   Shiva is often pictured in a pacific mood with his consort Parvati, as the cosmic dancer Nataraja, as a naked ascetic, as a mendicant beggar, as a yogi, and as the androgynous union of Shiva and Parvati in one body (Ardhanarisvara).
    Another example of Shiva's apparent synthesis of male and female attributes is seen in his earrings.  He wears one earring in the style of a man and the other as a female.
    Shiva's third eye is a symbol of higher consciousness.  It is also a weapon he uses to destroy his enemies by emitting a fire missile which has the power to incinerate the three worlds.  He can also kill all the gods and other creatures during the periodic destruction of the universe.  Shiva's third eye first appeared when Parvati, his wife, playfully covered his other two eyes, so Shiva opened his third eye emitting his destructive missile endangering the three worlds.

     

    Click here to learn more about Shiva

  • Regular dusting should keep the piece clean. Over the years the metal polish will fade. In order to keep the piece shiny you can use a cotton rag and some coconut oil to regularly clean the piece. You can also use lemon or tamarind juice to wipe the piece down. The acid from the lemon/tamarind removes any patina.