Shiva Maheshvara with his wife Uma

• 

£595 In stock

From a tenth-century statue at Banteay Srei, now in the Phnom Penh Museum. Shiva Maheshvara (the great god) with his wife Uma (one of the many names of the consort goddess including Parvati, who protects the crops, and Durga, female warrior and exterminator of demons). Each Hindu deity is accompanied by its Shakti, the female projection that symbolizes its creative energy.

Shiva is worshipped by the Khmer under numerous names - Tumburu, Bhadreshvara, Sadesha etc - and is the most important deity who possesses numerous functions and attributes. All beings emanate from him, and in the guise of Sadashiva he is represented with five heads, associated with earth, water, fire, air, and ethereal space. The five elements constituting the cosmos. The generating power of the god is symbolized by his aniconic shape, the linga, a phallic stone with many meanings such as the axis and centre of the universe, and the origin and end of manifestation. It is a very popular fertility symbol to the Khmer.