ŚIWA MAHADEWA STATUE

Śiwa Mahadewa, or Śiwa the Supreme God, is the most revered deity in the Hindu religion. He is also known as The Destroyer. This relatively intact statue of Śiwa Mahadewa was discovered, in 1933, by local people from the Wadas River area in Tegal, Central Java. The lower lip is gilded, while the eyes, and the third eye on the forehead, have been embellished with silver, techniques probably inspired by statuary from Eastern India.

The statue, as typical for God Śiwa, has four arms, with the two right hands having held two, by now missing, objects while the upper left hand is holding a water vessel and the lower one a fly whisk. God Śiwa's crown shows elaborate decoration, including a crescent moon (candrakapala) at the front. His lower body is covered, down to the ankles, with a long cloth, displaying a tiger head motif on the right thigh.