Image title: Natha (seated on a bull)

Fig.82: Natha Siddhas in Stucco (Tiruvilimilalai, Kumbakonam dist., Tamilnadu). These stucco sculptures are on the top of a mandapa in the Vilinatha temple. Three Natha Siddhas are shown seated on their respective vehicles.

Unlike other examples, here a Natha is seated on a bull in a rajalilasana pose. He is wearing the sacred thread, rings on his arms, necklace like ornaments with a medallion in his neck and anklets on his legs. He is having beard and knotted hair. His left hand is resting on the bull’s back in a katya valambita mudra (?) and his right hand is in danda-hasta mudra.

Gallery information:

The Siddha/Natha tradition symbolize the most comprehensive understanding and application of the theoretical and methodological tenets of Tantric philosophy. There are many Siddha-centres all over the Tamilnadu. The temples in Tamil-Nadu contain the sculptures depicting the Tantric rites and the images of the venerated Siddhas in it.