INDIA, UTTAR PRADESH, CIRCA 9TH CENTURY

Returning from defeating Kubera, his half-brother and Shiva's friend, Ravana's chariot is halted mid-air by Shiva, who has denied passage past the mountain on which he and Parvati reside. Anger motivates Ravana, depicted in the center of the lower register, to pick up Mount Kailasha and carry it to Lanka. Frightened by the mountain's movement, Parvati turns to Shiva, who gently pushes the mountain down with his foot, pinning Ravana beneath it and keeping both the earth and Parvati from trembling any further; for another example illustrating this scene, see S. Kramrisch, Manifestations of Shiva, 1981, p. 52 and fig. 44.

While depictions of Umamaheshvara abound in medieval central Indian art, the stone color, facial features, headdress and hairstyle, jewelry, clothing, and modeling of the torso exhibit similarities with works found further north, in Uttar Pradesh. Compare with the Umamaheshvara stele in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A: IS.113-1986, published in J. Guy, Indian Temple Sculpture, 2007, p. 130 and cover ill., cat. no. 146), from ninth-century Almora. The overall composition of the figures is similar, as are their facial features, the arrangement of the hair including the placement of Shiva's cobra, jewelry type and figures included in the retinue, with the elements in the present example more simply carved to allow for greater visual clarity, especially as it contains the additional scene of Ravana shaking Mount Kailasha.