{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O25008"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O25008/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AP8148/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AP8148/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AP8148","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O25008/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O25008","accessionNumber":"IS.41-1966","objectType":"Figure","titles":[{"title":"Shiva Dakshinamurti","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"Dakshinamurti, the \"Lord who faces South\", represents Shiva as the supreme teacher of yoga, music, <i>jnana</i> (divine knowledge) and all the arts and sciences. Each of these four aspects is distinguished iconographically. This image, with a rosary and flame in the upper hands, is Vyakhyanamurti, Shiva as the expounder of the shastras. Four-armed Shiva is depicted with the uncut hair of an ascetic, seated in the <i>virasana</i> (heroic) posture, the lower right hand raised in the gesture of teaching in silence (<i>chinmudra</i>). The rocky landscape upon which he sits is an allusion to his Himalayan retreat where he instructs through mind-speech the secrets of the shastras to the holy men (<i>rishis</i>). With his right foot he suppresses the dwarf-like figure of Apasmarapurusha, the demon embodying ignorance and forgetfulness. The wild animals of the mountain, carved in low relief, gather around him to hear his profound message. \r\n\r\nIn the medieval period images of Dakshinamurti came to occupy a position on the south wall of the central shrine of a Hindu temple, displacing Ganesha in the south Indian temple schema in the early Chola period. By being positioned south-facing, Dakshinamurti was able to look down from his temple as if still seated in his beloved Mt Kailasha in the Himalayas. This sculpture would have originally occupied a niche on the south elevation of a late Chola temple.","physicalDescription":"A four-armed Shiva with the long uncut tresses of an ascetic, sitting on a rock in the mountain wilderness where he is said to have preached to hermits of the forest. Adjacent to him on his left are three cavernous haunts of wild animals, rising one above each other. His eyes are focused on the tip of his nose, suggesting rapt meditation or spiritual ecstasy, while his right foot rests on the head of the demonic dwarf Apasmara, signifying his power over the forces of darkness and ignorance; his left leg is crossed over his right. The front right hand is poised with forefinger outstretched; the rear right holds a rosary; the rear left holds a flame; the front left is suspended over the left knee with palm facing inwards.\r\n\r\n","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[],"techniques":[{"text":"carving","id":"AAT53149"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Granite","categories":[{"text":"Sculpture","id":"THES48896"},{"text":"Hinduism","id":"THES48941"}],"styles":[{"text":"Chola","id":"AAT18913"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"SSEA","id":"THES48598"},"images":["2006AP8148"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"47B (VA)","id":"THES49796"},"free":"","case":"BNC","shelf":"4","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Figure","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Thanjavur","id":"x32011"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, south India"}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"late 12th century","earliest":"1150-01-01","latest":"1200-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"102","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"48","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"38","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"102.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"Height including modern mount","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"50.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"Depth including modern mount","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Weight","value":"220","unit":"kg","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"2007","earliest":"2007-01-01","latest":"2007-12-31"},"part":"","note":"Weight as recorded for exhibition of Indian Temple Sculpture, Fundación \"la Caixa\", 2007"}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Bought from Spink & Son","historicalContext":"Shiva as the great teacher, depicted with the uncut hair of an ascetic, seated in the <i>virasana</i> (heroic) posture, the lower right hand raised in the gesture of teaching in silence (<i>cinmudra</i>).  The rocky landscape upon which he sits is an allusion to his Himalayan retreat where he teaches in silence the holy men (<i>rishis</i>) the secrets of the <i>shastras</i>. With his right foot he suppresses the dwarf-like figure of Apasmarapurusha, the demon of ignorance and forgetfulness. The animals of the mountain, carved in low relief, gather around him.  Dakshinamurti, the \"Lord who faces South\", represents Shiva as the supreme teacher of Yoga, music, jnana (knowledge) and all the arts and sciences. Each of these four aspects is distinguished iconographically. This image, with a rosary and flame in the upper hands, is Vyakhyanamurti, Shiva as the expounder of the <i>shastras</i>. Images of Dakshinamurti should occupy a position on the South wall of the central shrine of a Hindu temple.","briefDescription":"Shiva Dakshinamurti, granite, Thanjavur, south India, late 12th century","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Guy, John: <u>'Indian Temple Sculpture</u>', London V & A Publication, 2007, p.73. pl.80.\r\n\r\n\r\nISBN 971851775095\r\nGuy, John (ed.). ‘L’Escultura en els Temples Indis: L’Art de la Devocio’, Barcelona : Fundacio ‘La Caixa’, 2007. p  109, cat.68.\r\nISBN 9788476649466"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"John Irwin, <u>V & A Bulletin</u>, Vol. III no.2, April 1967"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Krishna Sastri, <u>South Indian Images</u>, 1916, fig 57 (showing  the left hand in same unusual position)"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Guy, John, ed, <u><u>La Escultura en los Templos Indios: El Arte de la Devoción</u></u><u> </u>, Barcelona, Fundación 'La Caixa', 2007, p.109, No.68, ISBN 978 84 7664 945 9."},{"reference":{"text":"Irwin, John C., Indian Art, Victoria and Albert Museum, London: H. M. Stationery Office, 1968","id":"AUTH348144"},"details":"pl. 16","free":""}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Shiva","id":"N8652"}],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[{"text":"Spink & Son Ltd","id":"A9225"}],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[{"text":"Hinduism","id":"AAT73727"}],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Shiva as Dakshinamurti \r\n\r\n\r\n1200–1300 \r\nLate Chola period \r\n\r\nDakshinamurti, the ‘Lord who faces South’, represents Shiva as \r\nthe supreme teacher. Holding a rosary and flame, he expounds \r\nthe sacred texts and has the uncut hair of an ascetic.With one \r\nfoot he suppresses Apasmara,the demon of ignorance.The rocky \r\nlandscape represents his Himalayan retreat,Mount Kailasha.The \r\nimage would have occupied a niche in the south wall of a temple,\r\nlooking south as if from the Himalayas. \r\n\r\nGranite \r\nSouthern India (Thanjavur,Tamil Nadu) \r\n\r\n\r\nMuseum no. IS.41-1966 ","date":{"text":"06/06/2011","earliest":"2011-06-06","latest":"2011-06-06"}}],"partNumbers":["IS.41-1966"],"accessionNumberNum":"41","accessionNumberPrefix":"IS","accessionYear":1966,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2019LW6182"],"recordModificationDate":"2026-04-24","recordCreationDate":"2000-02-13","availableToBook":false}}