Shiva – The Cosmic Dancer

1 minute

One thousand years ago, King Raja Raja Chola I built the Brihadeeswara Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva in Thanjavur (South India).

Thanjavur was the political and religious capital of the Chola Dynasty, and the family deity – Shiva’s acclaimed bronze statue was made for the temple there.
In Hindu mythology, Brahma represents the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver and Shiva the Destroyer (of evil/making way for creation to start anew).

In the brilliantly crafted statue above, Shiva is shown as a creator, preserver and a destroyer at the same time. Set inside a fiery halo, his upper right hand shows the damaru – the drum that made the first sounds of creation. The upper left hand bears Agni – the God of fire and the lower right shows a gesture that is meant put away fear – Abhayamudra.

The demon he tramples represents Illusion – which misleads man, and the hand which points to his left foot signifies peace and refuge for the troubled.

This statue made for the perfect topic for me to practice sketching, so here is my version of it!

Drawn using Krita

A quick peek for you! – the 4 steps in which I did it –

I hope you liked this post!