Artwork Page for Trident with Shiva as Half-Woman (Ardhanarishvara)

Details / Information for Trident with Shiva as Half-Woman (Ardhanarishvara)

Trident with Shiva as Half-Woman (Ardhanarishvara)

c. 1050

South India, Tamil Nadu, Chola period

(900-13th Century)
Medium
bronze
Measurements
Overall: 39.6 cm (15 9/16 in.)
Weight: 4.99 kg (11 lbs.)
Credit Line
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1969.117
Public Domain
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Location
244 Indian and Southeast Asian
Print

Description

The form of the trident—the main weapon of the Hindu god Shiva—dramatically and elegantly encircles his form in which the left side is female and the right side is male. The male side has the matted locks of a yogi piled high on his head; he holds an ax and leans on his mount, the bull. The female side has a jeweled crown, earring, full breast, broad hips, long skirt, and only one arm. The lower hands probably held a stringed instrument. This particular iconic form of Shiva visually indicates that he embodies all phenomena, even if they seem contradictory. He is male and female, destructive and creative, yogi and royal sovereign, hunter and musician.
Green tarnished trident with two prongs curving in almost to meet a central prong and a figure of Shiva standing in front of the central prong. His right side is male, with two arms, one holding an axe and the other leaning on the head of a bull that stands below him, half his size. His left side is female, with a full breast, broad hips, long skirt, and one arm.

Trident with Shiva as Half-Woman (Ardhanarishvara)

c. 1050

South India, Tamil Nadu, Chola period (900-13th Century)

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