glasmålning, målning, painting

Vira Bhadra Dimensions: 35 X 40 Motif: Virabhadra (red) with eight arms and shiva tilak (para-tilaka) in the forehead. Next to him is a very small Daksha with a goat’s head and a shiva tilak in his forehead and with his hands put together in the name gesture, as if to worship Shiva. Virabhadra is one of Shiva’s many emanations. Is sometimes considered as Shiva’s son. He is a horrified, gigantic demon that Shiva created from one of his hair curls to kill his prospective father-in-law Daksha and to destroy his sacrificial ceremony. (Wilkins, 1997: 268 f.) Daksa, who is a prajapati (the author of humanity) and the son of Brahma, had invited all gods except his son-in-law Shiva to the great sacrificial ceremony he would christen. There are a variety of versions of this myth and Daksa’s reasons to exclude his son-in-law. According to one version, Shiva had not shown his father-in-law due respect at an earlier time, since he did not appear at the time of the commemoration of Daksa. According to another version, Daksa refused to invite Shiva because of his capacity as a Brahmin killer and the impurity that his association with cremation places, ghosts, evil spirits, trolls and the like meant. Shiva, as Bhairava, had cut off Brahma’s fifth head with his left thumbnail and was thus guilty of brahmin murder. Sati, Daksa’s daughter and Shiva’s consort, committed because of the father’s unconscious refusal not to invite Shiva, suicide by plunging into the fire. When Shiva learned of this, he ripped down and despaired a handful of hair from his head and slung it towards the top of a mountain. From the explosion that ensued, Virabhadra emerged from one half of his hair, while a wicked goddess, Mahakali, turned out of the other. Virabhadra was great as a mountain and dripped with blood. His eyes rolled with mind. He was very similar to Shiva. Virabhadra was commissioned by Shiva to destroy the victims of Daksa, kill Daksa, his wives and to force the other gods to his knees. There are different versions of what happened after Virabhadra fulfilled his destructive mission. According to a version, the victim turned into a deer that rose to heaven and that Virabhadra then cared about life. Another version admits that Virabhadra, after having gone on a carrier journey and killed all the victim participants, revived them whereupon Shiva had to attend a new offer ceremony. Daksha, who was beheaded, got a new head from a goat and came to be a faithful supporter of Shiva. (Kramrisch, 1988: 310 ff.) Ritual handsetting (mudra): Iconographic details: Virabhadra wears a golden, jewel-obsessed crown (kirita-mukuta) on her head. Weapons: right side, top and bottom: picacka (duck); a weapon consisting of a sharp metal hook attached to a wooden shank); bow (dhanus), lollipop (gada). Left side, top down: sword (khadga) in hand in front of chest, discus (chakra) between middle and index finger on hand underneath. Around the wrists of all eight arms he wears double bracelets (kankana) and around the ankles rings. On its feet, Virabhadra has ascetic slippers, which are common footwear among holy men (sadhuer) and sannyasins today. Both Daksha and Virabhadra have shiva tilak (para-tilaka) in the forehead. (Niklas Foxeus, 2000)