Elements of Hindu Iconography v4.c27.3

v4.c27.3

AT the entrance into many an important temple of Śiva in Southern India one meets with a pair of images, of which one is a male figure and the other a female one, the consort of the former. The male figure is shaped exactly like that of Śiva in the aspect of Chandraśekharamūrti. It is seen standing upon a padmāsana and carrying in its back hands the paraśu and the mriga; but, unlike the figure of Chandraśekharamūrti, which keeps its front hands in the varada and the abhaya poses, that of Adhikāranandin has them folded on the chest in the añjali pose. The figure of Adhikāranandin is sometimes mistaken by the less informed persons for that of Śiva.