Image title: Siddha (ardha-padmasana)

[Series: Representations of Yogic Postures of the Siddhas and Nāthas in the Medieval Temples]

Fig. 93: This sculpture is found in the same mandapa of Nandi temple in which he is depicted seated in ardha-padmasana pose with his left leg slightly elevated upward and both body and head bent towards his left. His both hands raised above his head in anjali mudra. A wallet in right shoulder, a deer horn medallion in his chest with cross bands, langoti, rings in his wrists and arms; and anklets in his legs are depicted clearly and purposefully. Many similar sculptures of this kind is also found in other pillars of this temple, as well as other temples of south India like, Shrisailam, Hazara Rama temple at Hampi and other temples of Tamilnadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

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.