Indian Hindu Art

Early Hindu Art in India

Hindu art, unlike Buddhist art, shows the human figure curved, voluptuous and filled with potential motion. Parvati below is shaped and dressed (only in jewelry to emphasize her sexuality and a crown) like the Yakshi. Ganesha, the elephant-headed god in the center, is corpulent, the result of "good living." Vishnu on the right is portrayed with a fit, but soft body, and with four arms to show his many powers.


Standing Parvati, 10th Century ce, India, Tamil Nadu, Tanjore region. Bronze, 27 3/8" high. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York	"Ganesha," stone figure, 13th Century ce, is the son of Parvati and Shiva, and is considered the provider of success, prosperity and good living. Ganesha is one of the most popular of the Hindu deities.	Standing Vishnu, 10th Century ce, India, Tamil Nadu, Tanjore region. Bronze, H. 33" Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

The body types of the figures below are intended to be sensual. Indian art from its very beginning in the Indus Valley already portrayed a soft and sensual human figure. Ancient beliefs in India, which later infused both Buddhism and Hinduism, understood the human body as an aesthetic form second only to the deities, and human sexuality as a metaphor for the union of the human soul with the divine.


The "Goddess Durga" vanquishing the "buffalo demon" from the 13th Century.	"Yashoda and Krishna," 14th Century, from India, Karnataha. Copper, 13 1/8" high. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York	"Four-armed Durga," late 9th Century, India, Kashmir. Stone, 12 3/8" high. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York


The Kandariya Mahadeva Temple, Khajuraho,Madhya, Pradesh, India. A monumental temple dedicated to Shiva, c.1100 ce.	Detail of sculpture, three rows with some 600 figures carved in high relief are thought to express Shiva's "divine bliss." See the "Visvanatha Temple," on page 183 of the Gardner text.


"Shiva Nataraja," from Tiruvalangadu, Tamil Nadu, India, Chola Dynasty, c.1000. Bronze, 45" high. Government Museum, Madras See similar image in the Gardner text, page 184	"Shiva Nataraja," or "Lord of the Dance." Shiva dances the cosmic dance of destruction on the body of the "dwarf of ignorance."	"Shiva Nataraja" is usually shown with four arms, with each hand holding a different symbolic object of his power. The dancing figure is shows in a ring of flames.

Page Updated 8/18/06

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