Sadashiva ( Lord Shiva as the Destroyer {left }, the creator {middle} and maintainer {right})7th Century AD,From Northwest Frontier Province ( now Pakistan )
For the Shaivites, the worshipers of Lord Shiva, He is the Supreme God. He manifests the Hindu Trinity of the creator, the maintainer and the destroyer. These are the aspect of any god. For, this is the process of life and death, the life story of the universe.
Interestingly, He holds a trident ( a trishul) symbol of three stages if our mind: the conscious, the sub - conscious, and the unconscious. He holds a rosary; the symbol of meditation. He holds a water pot; symbol of life. He rests a hand on his vehicle, Nandi, the bull; symbol of unruly Nature both within and without us. He also displays an erect phallus; symbol of the productive power of Nature. Without production and reproduction, the universe would be extinct. This is a highly philosophical sculpture.
Indian art is littered in Afghanistan and Pakistan as it was once part of Indian empire. We may have redrawn the map, but the cultural currents continue to flow on both the sides of the border. Lord Shiva teaches us to break the barriers of our mind and to behold the divine vision. But the first step is to see the unity in humanity itself.
