Kal Bhairav

 Kal Bhairav

 Khajaraho School, 11th Century AD,  National Museum, New Delhi

          Kal Bhairav represents the destructive side of Lord Shiva. In order to destroy evil He causes natural calamities. Although he is supposed to be ferocious looking, here he is represented as a bearded young man. He holds a bell in his left upper hand, which symbolises Time. In other hands, He would have held a bowl of fire, a severed head of a demon, and an axe or other sharp edged weapon. 

           Although we mortals live as though we are immortals, but natural calamities remind us of our fragile existence.