SOUTH INDIA, PALLAVA PERIOD, 9TH CENTURY

This rare bronze figure depicts the composite form of Vishnu (Hari) and Shiva (Hara) as can be interpreted from the differences between the right and left sides of the figure. Vishnu, for instance, can be recognized by the cylindrical crown and the mace held in the lower left hand, while the Shiva side is distinguished by the matted hair from which emerges a serpent. It is said that the position of Vishnu on the left side, in principle the feminine side, has to do with the greater gender ambiguity of the god within Hindu theology. The cult of Harihara, known from at least the third century in North India, likely had the effect of smoothing the theological difference between followers of both Hindu paths. The figure is dressed in a thin dhoti secured with multiple belts and sashes and adorned with a sacred thread and many necklaces. A seated image of Vishu at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (acc. no. 1987.142.69) dated to the Pallava period appears to have been cast in a very similar alloy, is sculptured with the same proportions, and is adorned in an almost identical fashion.
Himalayan Art Resources, item no. 24565.