Left, Sadashiva, with five heads and five pairs of arms, seated on a throne and holding a sword; right, the goddess Kali seated on her consort Shiva. Gouache painting by an Indian artist.

Date:
[between 1800 and 1899?]
Reference:
581627i
Part of:
Hindu deities and their manifestations
  • Pictures
  • Online

Available online

view Left, Sadashiva, with five heads and five pairs of arms, seated on a throne and holding a sword; right, the goddess Kali seated on her consort Shiva. Gouache painting by an Indian artist.

Public Domain Mark

You can use this work for any purpose without restriction under copyright law. Read more about this licence.

Credit

Left, Sadashiva, with five heads and five pairs of arms, seated on a throne and holding a sword; right, the goddess Kali seated on her consort Shiva. Gouache painting by an Indian artist. Wellcome Collection. Public Domain Mark. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Selected images from this work

View 1 image

About this work

Description

Shiva has a snake around his neck; Kali holds a human head and wears a garland of skulls; both have blue skin. The figure at left is the five-headed form of Shiva known as Sadashiva, who may have up to ten arms (also identified as Shiva by the blue throats, which is a feature peculiar to Shiva, one of whose names, Neelkanth, means 'blue throat')

Publication/Creation

[India], [between 1800 and 1899?]

Physical description

1 painting : (album fol. 8v, painting number 8) : gouache ; image 27.3 x 37.2 cm

Series

Lettering

Lettering in Sanskrit partially visible above the painting, where sheet has been trimmed

Reference

Wellcome Collection 581627i

Type/Technique

Languages

Subjects

Where to find it

  • LocationStatusAccess
    Closed stores

Permanent link