Virabadhra Shrine

Size:

23cm high, base 7,0 x 17,0 cm. Statue in the middle is 15cm high.

Region:

Karnataka, India

Type:

Virabadhra Shrine

Period:

19th century

Condition:

Very good; the faces of the statues are rubbed off by puja-use

Description:

Virabhadhra with four hands, in which he holds a arrow, a bow, a sword a shield and a trident.. Dakhsa, his human head replaced with a ram’s head, stands on his left, Badhrakali, his consort, on the right.

Virabhadra came into being after Daksha insulted Shiva’s wife who subsequently comitted suicide and Shiva created him as a form of himself and gave him an army to take revenge from Daksha. Virabhadra cut off Daksha’s head in a battle. The other gods persuaded Shiva to bring Daksha back to life. But Daksha’s head could not be found and so it was substituted with the head of a ram, as can be seen in this bronze.

 Hei-(ELEE)- RLEE