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Linga with Face of Shiva (Ekamukhalinga)

9th century
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 237
The linga, the aniconic pillar symbol emblematic of the Hindu god Shiva, symbolizes his essential generative powers. Here, the form is phallic, addorsed with Shiva’s face in a style reflecting iconographic innovations of the region as well as inherited design conventions from fifth-and sixth-century Gupta north India. The Shahi kingdom flourished in eastern Afghanistan only from the seventh to the ninth century, yet it produced a highly distinctive corpus of Hindu religious imagery. Typically sculpted in white marble, these works reflect links east, most notably to Kashmir for Shaiva imagery, and west, as seen in the flying locks of hair inspired by Sasanian royal imagery.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Linga with Face of Shiva (Ekamukhalinga)
  • Period: Shahi period
  • Date: 9th century
  • Culture: Afghanistan
  • Medium: White marble
  • Dimensions: H. 22 7/16 in. (57 cm); W. 13 3/16 in. (33.5 cm)
  • Classification: Sculpture
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1980
  • Object Number: 1980.415
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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Afghanistan (probably Hadda)
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Seated Bodhisattva Maitreya (Buddha of the Future), Schist, Afghanistan (found near Kabul)
Seated Bodhisattva Maitreya (Buddha of the Future)
Afghanistan (found near Kabul)
7th–8th century
Niche with the Seated Bodhisattva Shakyamuni Flanked by Devotees and an Elephant, Stucco, Afghanistan (Hadda)
Niche with the Seated Bodhisattva Shakyamuni Flanked by Devotees and an Elephant
Afghanistan (Hadda)
ca. 4th–5th century
Linga with Face of Shiva (Ekamukhalinga), Stone, India (Jammu and Kashmir, ancient kingdom of Kashmir)
Linga with Face of Shiva (Ekamukhalinga)
India (Jammu and Kashmir, ancient kingdom of Kashmir)
7th century
Shiva Linga, Sandstone, Southern Thailand
Shiva Linga
Southern Thailand
7th–8th century

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