Standing Mahadeva
Standing MahadevaStanding Mahadeva
Indian art is based on gods and goddesses of India. The only proof of the existence of the god is the sculptures, which have been carved by the people for thousands of the years. These sculptures tell us the story of the gods and goddesses. The stones are the storytellers, which are now found in temples, caves, monuments, and museums. The Cleveland museum of art includes a remarkable image of standing Mahadeva. It represents Shiva, one of the great Hindu deities, as Mahadeva, one of his manifestations. This image is a grey schist murti, or sculpture found in Kashmir. This sculpture is from the 8th century B.C.E.
In the museum icon Mahdeva is standing with his two sons Kartikeya and Ganesha. Kartikeya is on the left side of Shiva. Kartikeya, the elder son of Lord Shiva, is also known as Subramaniam and represents a person of perfection. He has taken birth to destruct the demon Taraka sur . It seemed that the two (Shiva and Parvati ) were constantly making love, to the discontent of the other gods. Gods were concerned that their offspring might be too powerful. Finally they were persuaded to stop, but there was much of Shiva's seed, which had not been used. This was burning hot and no one could hold it. It was passed from god to god until it finally was tossed into the sacred waters of the Ganges. Shiva took the seed and placed it on top of a mountain for ten thousand years in the sight of the rising sun, and Kartikeya was born. The Krittikas (the six stars of the Pleiades) took his care, from which he got his name. In one hand, he carries a spear called Shakti, which symbolises the destruction of demons. With his other hand he always blesses devotees. His vehicle is a peacock, which is capable of destroying harmful serpents (symbolizing harmful ego and bad desires of people). He usually wears claws of the tiger in his neck, to suggest bravery. In this image, he has the claw necklace, the spear, and his vehicle peacock. He has four hands. Gods usually have four hands to show that they have more strength then a normal person.
Ganesha is on the right side of the Shiva. Ganesha, the youngest son of Shiva, is the god of knowledge and remover of obstacles. Lord Ganesha is also called Vinayak (kowledeable) or Vighneshwer (god to remove obstacles). He has elephant's head and a big belly. The story behind it was: Once Shiva went in a forest for meditation. At that time Parvati gave birth to Ganesha. One day Parvati was taking bath and Ganesha was guarding the door. At that time Shiva suddenly came back, as Ganesha didn't know his father he didn't allow him to enter in the house. For...
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