Somaskanda

Tiruvelangadu, Tiruttani Taluk, Chittoor District (formerly). Height of Siva 28cm. Parvati 23cm. Subrahmanya. The piece where Subrahmanya is expected to be placed is missing. About 9th century AD.

Siva: axe, antelope; skull-bowl, trident.
Parvati: lotus bud, ahuya-varada. Rectangular stand.

This unusual and rather striking image is the smallest Somaskanda in the collection. Siva's headdress bears on the right side the crescent at the top and the skull at the bottom with snakes in between, and on the left side snakes with a large Datura flower near the bottom, all shown in the prabhavali. Siva wears a makara-kundala in his right ear and a deeply cylindrical patra-kundala in his left. Parvati has patra-kundalas of normal form in both ears. The right hind leg of the antelope is held between the first two fingers of Siva's left hand. Its face and head are towards him. The armlets of both figures are somewhat cobra-like in form. A large ornament hangs down the middle of Siva's back with three locks of long hair on either side of it, curled round at their ends as if to suggest the tails of snakes. Parvati's hair falls in seven ringlets, of which the two outermost on each side are twisted into the shoulder ornaments. The girdles of both figures have ornamental bows on both sides. At the front of the stand between the two figures are two circular depressions evidently intended to receive Subramanya's feet, but the figure is missing. But for this piece of evidence the figure would have had to be regarded as Umasahita.