INDIA, RAJASTHAN OR UTTAR PRADESH, 10TH/11TH CENTURY

Details

A Buff Sandstone group of Ravana raising Mount Kailasa
India, Rajasthan or Uttar Pradesh, 10th/11th Century
Very animated and well-carved with Shiva and Parvati in tender embrace seated on a rocky stepped plinth representing Mount Kailasa, the former holding a lotus bud in his lower right hand and his upper hands holding a trident and staff, both wearing dhotis and elaborate jewelry, standing attendants and rampant leonine beasts at either side, with further figures above and centered by Ravana below attempting to lift them
29 in. (74 cm.) high

Provenance

R.W. Leybourne Callaghan, alias Callaghan of India, Managing Director of Roche India and Honorary Consul for Ireland in Bombay, acquired in the late 1960s

Lot Essay

Returning from defeating Kubera, his half-brother and Shiva's friend, Ravana's chariot is halted mid-air by Shiva, who has denied passage past the mountain on which he and Parvati reside. Anger motivates Ravana, depicted in the center of the lower register, to pick up Mount Kailasa and carry it to Lanka. Frightened by the mountain's movement, Parvati turns to Shiva, who gently pushes the mountain down with his big toe, pinning Ravana beneath it and keeping both the earth and Parvati from trembling any further; for another example illustrating this scene, see S. Kramrisch, Manifestations of Shiva, 1981, p. 52 and fig. 44.

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