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Gain access to this incredible resource through either a monthly or a yearly subscription and search the entire collection from your desktop, compare multiple images side by side and zoom into the minute details of the images. Visit www.davidrumsey.com/amica for more information on the collection, click on the link below the revolving thumbnail to the right, or email us at amica@luna-img.com . Creator Name: Unknown Creator Nationality: Asian; Indian Sub-Continent; Indian Creator Name-CRT: East India, Bihar, Medieval Period, Pala Dynasty Title: One-Faced Linga (Ekamukhalinga) Title Type: Primary View: Full View Creation Start Date: 600 Creation End Date: 799 Creation Date: 7th-8th century Object Type: Sculpture Materials and Techniques: Black chlorite Dimensions: Overall: 83.8cm AMICA Contributor: The Cleveland Museum of Art Owner Location: Cleveland, Ohio, USA ID Number: 1973.73 Credit Line: John L. Severance Fund Rights: http://www.clemusart.com/museum/disclaim2.html Style or Period: East India, Bihar, Medieval Period, Pala Dynasty Context: Unlike the other Pala sculptures (see 1935.146 and 1970.10), which were Buddhist, this one is a Hindu image representing a phallic emblem of Shiva, a symbol of his procreative energy. During the medieval period in India, when Hinduism was a dominant religion, linga(s) were the most sacred and revered images placed in the innermost sanctums of temples. The version seen here is known as mukhalinga, where the linga is adorned with one or several heads of Shiva. In some instances it may be adorned with as many as five heads. In this case the front of the linga has only one head, so it is referred to as ekamukhalinga. The linga seen here is square at the base, octagonal in the middle of the shaft and round at the top. Originally probably only the topmost cylindrical part of the linga, and possibly its octagonal portion, was meant to be seen, while the base was buried or set into a yoni (a symbol of the female generative organ) that served as a pedestal for a linga. That is why the square base shows definite chisel marks and was left rough and unpolished. Today the octagonal portion also shows signs of burial in the form of earthy encrustation. Contrary to that, the top-most, visible part was highly polished and it still retains this finish today.The god wears a high symmetrically arranged chignon (jatamakuta) with his symbols: a crescent in his hair and a snake, both of them on the proper right side of the head. He has a large third eye in the center of his forehead.The full, sensuous facial features stillretain a great deal of Gupta feeling about them, at the same time revealing a certain degree of sharpness found in Pala and later Sarnath sculptures. Shiva wears heavy earrings of the makara-kundala type, in the form of an aquatic monster, and a single-string beaded necklace (ekavali) with a prismatic bead in the center. S.C. AMICA ID: CMA_.1973.73 AMICA Library Year: 1998 Media Metadata Rights: Copyright, The Cleveland Museum of Art AMICA PUBLIC RIGHTS: a) Access to the materials is granted for personal and non-commercial use. b) A full educational license for non-commercial use is available from Cartography Associates at www.davidrumsey.com/amica/institution_subscribe.html c) Licensed users may continue their examination of additional materials provided by Cartography Associates, and d) commercial rights are available from the rights holder. Home
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