Provenance:
Sotheby's, New York, December 5, 1992, no. 104
American Private Collection
Bhairava stands within an architectural stele carved with flying celestial figures, lion-griffins, scrolling foliage, and attendants. The deity occupies the center, surrounded by successive bands of carved ornament.
Bhairava is the fierce manifestation of the Hindu god Shiva, embodying his destructive power and his role as a guardian who transcends death and time. Here he is poised in graceful tribhanga on a lotus pedestal, holding a kapala (skull cup) in his raised right hand, while his left hand originally held a khatvanga (staff). His rounded torso contrasts with the intensity of his expression, defined by bulging eyes, bared fangs, flaming eyebrows, a short curled beard, and the third eye set prominently on his forehead.
A long garland falls across his body, while a serpent upavita, elaborate necklaces, naga earrings, and a transparent sash incised with rosettes animate the otherwise solid stone surface. His short dhoti, delicately carved with foliate motifs, and the beaded festoons suspended from his belt demonstrate the precision with which Pala sculptors translated textiles and ornament into stone.
Two lively attendants flank the deity at the base of the stele, while lion-griffins trampling elephants animate the sides of the architectural frame. Above, flying apsaras bearing garlands flank a kirttimukha mask at the apex of the arch.
