The Colas c36.67

c36.67

Fig. 53. (Pl. xix) Śiva as Bhikṣāṭana, in the Nāgēśvara temple, Kumbakonam. Śiva wears a high *jaṭāmakuṭa* and other ornaments. A serpent forms the waist-band. A *ḍamaru*, a *kapāla* and a staff are held in three hands, the fourth is reassuring the deer. A rare masterpiece, it possesses all the charming features of a perfectly handsome person, correctly answering the textual description of Bhikṣāṭana as he appeared before the wives of the *ṛṣis* of the Dārukāvana.