Asset number
1613458788
Description
Rectangular votive panel painted on both sides. One side shows a three-headed and four-armed male deity, seated cross-legged on a chequered cushion supported by two white bulls. This figure holds in the hands the sun and the moon, a vajra (thunderbolt), and a white round object, possibly a bijapura (citrus fruit). He is also depicted as ithyphallic and with a third vertical eye on the forehead. On these iconographic grounds, he has been identified with Śiva in his Mahesvara aspect, with a female head on his right side and his aghora (fierce) aspect on the left side. The other side shows another four-armed male deity seated cross-legged on a cushion. The man shows strong Iranian influence. He is dressed in a princely costume, wears a golden crown, a green flowered tunic, high black boots, and a dagger in his lap. He appears to hold in the hands a goblet, a weaver's comb, and a shuttle or mulberry stem. He possibly represents the God of Silk. Painted in ink and colours on wood.
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