Description
This statue represents Shivas head installed on a circular pedestal having a look similar to 'yoni-pith', an essential iconic component in Shivas linger manifestation. A Shivas head, so cast that it generates the feeling of being a form of Linga, is not strange in Shaivite line. In Shivas iconography the Linga-form and the form of his anthropomorphic head often alternate each other for in scriptures and Indian tradition his both forms Linga and Ber, Linga being his formless aspect the ante-form of all forms or an entity beyond form, and Ber, his anthropomorphic, are seen doctrinally as the aspects of One, more so the aspects of Linga the Formless. Hence, the tradition has seen Linga more often as Mocha - Linga phallus with anthropomorphic face, having a single face or even five. The Shaivite tradition perceives Linga as Shivas ultimate manifestation for while an anthropomorphic form has just one face and one back, Linga is only a face, each of the four sides, as also its apex, is a face. Thus, while a Linga icon is seen as having a face, an anthropomorphic head of Shiva, as this statue, is sometimes seen as resembling a Linga form.
