Carved from fine serpentine stone, prized for its smooth grain and capacity for intricate detailing, this two-foot masterpiece unfolds the divine wedding of Shiva and Parvati with breathtaking narrative clarity. The artist began with the central forms of Uma-Maheshwara, and from this nucleus the entire story blossomed outward, a process that took 1 year, from conception to completion.
At the base, the scene opens with the panigrahana, the auspicious moment in which Shiva accepts Parvati’s hand. From this beginning, the tableau expands into a cascade of celebratory episodes surrounded by the rising terrain of Mount Kailasha, carved in layers of trees, animals, and celestial attendants.
Encircling the composition stand the Dasha Dikapala, guardians of the ten directions, marking the cosmic scale of the union. Between them appear Shiva’s close attendants- the joyful bhuta-gana playing their instruments, Bhringi absorbed in devotion, and Nandi, smiling with quiet contentment as he supports the divine couple who though seated, seem to drift and dance together through the cosmos, buoyed by a sculpted weightlessness.
The sculptor’s brilliance emerges in countless subtle details: the serpent ornaments of Shiva, the animated serpent extending towards Parvati, the Ganga cascading from his matted locks in layered fluidity, and the graceful chattra shading the divine pair. Presiding above all is Brahma, blessing the sacred union from the summit of the composition.
This sculpture is an epic in stone- a coming together of wonder and wilderness, where the sacred marriage becomes a living landscape for the viewer to enter, witness, and behold.
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