Tenth Century Relief Sculpture: Shiva Family

Shiva’s Family is a tenth century relief sculpture made of sandstone from a region of India known as Uttar Pradesh. The sculpture stands approximately two feet in height, one foot in width, and six inches in depth. This elaborate relief depicts Shiva, Hindu god of destruction, and his wife Parvati (Uma-Mahaeshvara) seated on a lotus, the symbol of the universe, which in turn is supported by the bull Nandin, the vehicle of Shiva. This theme of the divine couple is arguably the quintessential image of later Hindu period sculpture in north India because of its intricate and multifaceted details. The artistry found in the details of this sculpture present to the audience a great importance to these figures and the Hindu culture in its entirety.

Shiva is adorned with jewels along his arms, a wreath around his neck, as well as a tall and mighty head ornament. His soft, round body is seated with an open body gesture, and his glance is looking straight toward the viewer, beckoning us in. His head is placed in front of a halo, which marks an achievement of enlightenment or spiritual meditation. Positioned between his eyes, is an Urna, a third eye, which is a representation of the cycle of birth and rebirth that the Hindu culture is structured around. Tranquil and all-powerful, he clasps his trident (which is now broken off) and lightly presses his right foot against the ground to contain the warriors of Ravana, the demon king of the underworld, shown in the bottom center.

Seated next to Shiva is Parvati, who is embracing his body and all of his eminence. She is also sculpted into a soft, round body in the nude with very large breasts and a slight belly, emphasizing her fertility and womanhood. She is too embellished with necklaces, arm ba...

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In the general context of Southeast Asian art, the sculpture is surely not the earliest example of Shiva seated with his spouse Parvati. A number of examples from the fourth or fifth century can be located, though none of them have depictions of the “holy family” display represented of the divine couple, which is a defining iconographic component of the Shiva’s Family sculpture.5

The relief sculpture of Shiva’s Family is but only a small object, yet within the bounds of such a small object lies an expansive history of India, its religious foundations, and serves to maintain deep and important ideology of Hinduism. Each facet of the sculpture comprises knowledge of the culture and contains a story of its own. Holding so much substance, it is works of art such as these that enable us to grasp the history of our own world and conserve its magnificence.