A sandstone sculpture of dancing Bhairava Madhya Pradesh, 10th-11th century 53 1/4 x 24 in. (135.26 x 60.96 cm.) Provenance: With Kapoor Galleries by the 1990s.
“The Dark One” or Kala Bhairava is marked with Shiva’s third eye, as he embodies Shiva’s destructive (samhara) form. His festooned belt sways with his hips, evoking the Lord of Dance with this dynamic posture. His matted locks appear windblown, pushed back with a skull-adorned diadem and tied with a serpent, to reveal his third eye. The deep and exquisite carving can be firmly identified as Bhairava by his bulging eyes and characteristic attributes: a trishula (trident), a kapala (skull cup), a damaru (drum), and one of Brahma’s heads. Like Shiva, the archetypal Hindu ascetic, Bhairava represents the importance of contemplating death on the path of spiritual cultivation. Shiva takes on this form to wander the world with a begging bowl after cutting off the arrogant Brahma’s fifth head, which dangles from his lower right arm in the present sculpture. This ferocious form is typically depicted with six arms; the two arms that are missing from the present example would wield a vajra and a noose. Manasa Devi, goddess of serpents, and the fearsome form of Parvati, Chamunda, are depicted to the left and right of Bhairava’s head, respectively. Attendants admire him from below and an apsara supports the pedestal he dances on. A serpent rears its head atop his proper-left breast and appears to wrap around his torso like the standard sacred cord or yajnopavita. The garland that falls naturally around his proper-right limbs was once a series of stylized skulls. Though it has lost definition over many centuries of weathering, the portion of the garland that wraps around his proper-left calf remains defined. The vibrant sensibility of this sculpture mirrors those of the most famous temples of Madhya Pradesh at Kajuraho where figures are voluptuous and much more naturalistic than the temple sculptures of the Gupta and post-Gupta periods. The eastern portion of the Vindhya mountain range of Madhya Pradesh is composed of sandstone and shale, providing ample material for sculptures such as the present, which may have adorned a temple made of almost entirely sandstone.
Holding the trident Its prongs flashing like the rays of the sun With resounding drum in hand He came in the guise of Kala-Bhairava He ripped apart the elephant’s skin— Seeing Uma shrink in fear His beautiful mouth widened into laughter... Thus did he shower his grace The beauteous lord of Tirucherai goal of the Vedas —APPAR
Translation by Dr. Vidya Dehejia, after The Sensuous and the Sacred: Chola Bronzes from South India, New York, 2002, p.118.
Shiva (Fig. 1) India: Uttar Pradesh or Madhya Pradesh, 10th century Sandstone 33-1/2 x 11 x 6-1/2 in. (85.1 x 28 x 16.5 cm) The Norton Simon Foundation, F.1975.14.7.S
Comparable Works Among the large number of sandstone sculptures within this stylistic milieu, images of Bhairava are incredibly rare and his dancing form, moreso. The best collection of comparable examples of fine sandstone figures from medieval Madhya Pradesh reside at the Rani Durgavati Museum, in Jabalpur (a city in the state of Madhya Pradesh). However, a number of equally-fine examples have made their way to American museums, such as a tenth-century figure of Shiva at the Norton Simon Museum (see Fig. 1). This sculpture displays nearly identical style of ornamentation to the present Bhairava: see the two heavy necklaces with a pendant between them on the chest and an elaborate belt with beadlike decorations suspended in the form of multiple loops that fall naturally from the waist and across the thighs. A tenth-century sandstone sculpture of Ganesha at the Metropolitan Museum of Art displays a very similar yajnopavita in the form of a serpent (see Fig. 2), as well as the same festooned belt. Moreover the soft bellies of each of these masterworks mirrors that of dancing Bhairava who displays an equally lifelike posture, animated by his mid-motion pose.
Dancing Ganesha (Fig. 2) India (Madhya Pradesh); Kalacuri, 10th century Mottled red sandstone 36 x 20 in. (50.8 x 91.4 cm) Gift of Florence and Herbert Irving, 2007.480.2 The Metropolitan Museum of Art
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