Bhikshatanamurti Shiva Traditional Chola Bronze Statue
Bhikshatanamurti form of Shiva is well known among sculptures of South India. Bronze statues on this traditional Chola theme are beautiful and awe inspiring simultaneously. <br> <br>This is one of those beautiful statues on this subject. Shiva is seen as a naked mendicant going about begging for alms. His hair is tied up in a crown, bound by a snake and decorated with a skull on top. Ganga and Chandra (crescent moon) are seen within his hair on the two sides. <br> <br>He is four armed with Damaru (drum) in his top right hand and left hand curled as if holding a trident horizontally. Shiva shares the collected alms with a deer which is nothing but yajna (ritualistic practice of Hindus) personified. Yajna became an attribute of Shiva from the time when he destroyed the yajna of Daksha prajapati. At that time, yajna - the ritual itself - assumed the form of a deer and ran off being scared of Shiva ’s wrath. Shiva caught yajna and since then it is seen playing within Shiva ’s fingers in the form of a deer. <br> <br>It is that deer which Shiva is seen feeding in this idol. Shiva also carries cap of Kapaal (skull) which he uses as a begging bowl. The form of Shiva is naked but for a slithering snake around his waist. Read the story of Bhikshatanamurti <a title="how Shiva became Bhikshatanamurti" href="https://www.cottage9.com/blog/post/shiva-nataraja-in-traditional-indian-art/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.
