Image title: Shiva and Parvati

Shiva and Parvati [Roof bracket; ca. A.D. 1679]—Shiva in a fierce, multi-headed manifestation, garlanded with snakes and human heads, is accompanied by the bull Nandi and his spouse, Parvati. Above them is a monkey and two garland-bearing mythical creatures, half- bird and half-human, known as Kinnaras. The deities' cross-legged pose under a tree mimics that of the Yakshi (tree goddess) who was often carved on earlier brackets and is a pose otherwise rarely adopted by them. Beneath the gods are three seated figures in prayerful attitude but wearing demonic dress. They may refer to the three persons who commissioned the bracket, named in the inscription below. As known from another inscription on a companion bracket (not exhibited), the strut was carved in A.D. 1679 "when King Shrinivasa Malla had killed a demon." This may be a reference to the king's role as the demon-killing Narasimha, a Vishnu incarnation, in a masked dance reenacting the event.

Gallery information:

The Patan Museum is located on the Durbar square of Patan (Lalitpur/Lalitapura, Kathmandu, Nepal) which is associated Keshav Narayan Chowk (Keshavnarayan)—a form of Lord Vishnu. Being listed as a World Heritage Site, the whole of Durbar square is filled with exquisite temples, sculptures and other ancient structures, of which the ancient history history can be traced to the Malla Kings of Lalitpur. It is an important site for both Buddhism and Hinduism.