Shiva Gajasamharara

Mid-12th century
Rajaraja Museum, Thanjavur

In this sculpture, Shiva dances in triumph beneath the flayed hide of his elephant foe Nila.

The Rajaraja Museum contains a notable collection of Chola bronzes. The museum is part of the Nayaka Palace in Thanjavur. Many of the bronzes here come from a single find, in Tiruvengadu, which greatly increases their usefulness to art historians.

Bronzes in the South tend to be solid, while those in the North tend to be hollow; both, however, are cast by the lost-wax method.