A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c13.s4.19

c13.s4.19

A subject rarely represented in sculpture, the rescue by the god Siva of his worshipper Mārkaṇḍeya from the clutches of the messenger of Yama, god of death, appears twice at Elūra, and is treated with less grimness than the Bhairava group. The earlier composition in the Das Avatār Cave (Plate XLIV, Fig. A) is more vigorous than that at the Kailās (Fig. B), half a century or more later in date. The two groups may be considered to be favourable specimens of the cave sculpture in its milder forms.