The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 14, 2025

One-Faced Linga (Ekamukhalinga)

600s–700s

Eastern India, Bihar, Medieval period, Pala dynasty

chloritic schist
Overall: 83.8 cm (33 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1973.73
Location: 244 Indian and Southeast Asian

Did You Know?

Some lingas have four faces that indicate a more advanced stage of creation.

Description

The innermost sanctum of a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva is called a womb chamber in which a stylized phallus called a linga is installed. Together, the chamber and linga represent the potentiality of creation. Artists depict the first stage of creation by a face emerging from the phallus, which embodies one aspect of Shiva. This face is of a powerful yogi, with long matted locks adorned with a crescent moon. He has a penetrating gaze with all three of his eyes. This icon would have been accessed primarily by Brahmin priests who would perform rituals honoring Shiva as the ultimate creator of the world.
  • ?–1973
    (Robert Rousset [1901–1982], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1973–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • “Art of Asia Recently Acquired by American Museums, 1973.” Archives of Asian Art, vol. 28, 1974, pp. 113–143. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 118, fig. 15 20111066
    "The Year in Review for 1973." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 61, no. 2 (1974): 31-78. Mentioned: no. 187, p. 79; Reproduced: no. 187, p. 60 www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 294 archive.org
    Kramrisch, Stella. Manifestations of Shiva. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1981. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 5, p. 6
    Katz, Johnathan G. “Images of Shiva” Portfolio (May-June 1981) vol. III:3. Reproduced: p. 82
    Cunningham, Michael R., Stanislaw J. Czuma, Anne E. Wardwell, and J. Keith Wilson. Masterworks of Asian Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1998. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 140-141
    Czuma, Stanislaw, "Great Acquisitions and Southeast Asian Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art," Orientations (Jan/Feb 2005), vol. 36, no. 1. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 84
  • {{cite web|title=One-Faced Linga (Ekamukhalinga)|url=false|author=|year=600s–700s|access-date=14 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1973.73