Attributed to Devidasa
Oh my, I love today's piece of art so much.
Sadashiva is one of the most transcendent forms of the great Hindu deity Shiva. Within the Agama texts of orthodox Shaivism (Shaiva Siddhanta), he is the supreme deity and a higher level of the cosmos in which there are no distinctions among person, body, and world. His five heads represent five streams of knowledge, ranging from the highest Siddhanta teachings to the least venerated Vaishnava Tantras.
One of Sadashiva's most important acts was the transmission of teachings from subtle realms into language that could be accessed by humans. Because the Tantras were typically structured as conversations between a deity and his consort, this painting evokes Sadashiva's role as the revealer of esoteric knowledge.
Wearing a snow-leopard skin draped over his shoulders, Sadashiva sits with the goddess on a mauve-petalled lotus floating against an orange-colored ground. Dominating the composition, his large, ash-white body captures the focus of the viewer's attention as well as that of the goddess, whose gaze is fervid and alert. The five-headed deity has eight arms that hold (clockwise from the top right) a drum, snake, noose, bell, axe, grain sheath, trident, and sword.
We present today's amazing piece thanks to The National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, DC.
P.S. Here you can get to know more about Ardhanarishvara, androgynous portrayals of Shiva and Parvati.