Siva- Tripurantaka

Tripurantaka form of Siva is presented generally in a warrior pose riding a chariot of which the Vedas were the horses, Brahma the charioteer, ready to shoot an arrow to destroy the impregnable three cities of the demons, releasing them from ignorance to immortality.

This is an exquisite example of two armed bronze image of Siva- Tripuramtaka, shown standing firmly on his taut right leg and the left leg bent at the knee on a double lotus pedestal. The arms are in the gesture of holding the bow. His hair are arranged in high jata-mukuta. He wears a fillet, forming loops on forehead, necklaces, skandhamala on right shoulder. It is decorated with a chain of flowers on either side, armlets, bracelets, yajnopavita, udarabandha and anklets. The lower garments consist of a short drawer, decorated with geometric and floral designs, secured at the waist by the girdle having a kirtimukha clasp in the centre. It is finally modelled and well proportioned example of early Chola art where the artist could assimilate his heroic deed and his blissful posture in a single image.