Trikala Bhairava
Unknown Artist
1000s–1100s
Medium
stone
Dimensions
21.8 × 19.1 cm
Classification
Sculpture
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of Louise Hawley Stone, In Memory of Louis Severance Higgins
Accession Number
1958.208
About this artwork
Bhairava is the name of the wrathful aspect of the Hindu god Shiva. His ferocity and fearsome attributes include the crown of skulls and cobras, bulging eyes, fangs, and hair that stands on end. His three heads are indicative of the passing of time from past through present to the future, which is the meaning of his epithet Trikala, or "triple time." The ferocity of this figure reminds devotees not to waste a moment in striving to reach liberation from the relentless passage of time that ultimat...