Shiva as Slayer of the Elephant Demon
Unknown Artist
1000s
Medium
granite
Dimensions
72.4 × 48.3 × 20.3 cm
Classification
Sculpture
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
John L. Severance Fund
Accession Number
1962.164
About this artwork
In an exuberant dance posture with eight arms, Shiva is shown here in his wrathful aspect, with disheveled hair, bulging eyes, and fangs. He has just successfully flayed the skin of an elephant demon and triumphantly stretches it out behind him, its two hind feet sticking up at the right corner of the panel. The elephant in rut, in its demonic form, was used as a metaphor for uncontrolled passions that Shiva helps to conquer in the mind of the devotee, so that the devotee can better focus his at...