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Women in Sri Lankan Sculpture and Painting
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Title
Ardhanarisvara, hermaphrodite, Half god and half goddess
Subject
Ardhanarisvara--Goddess
Bronze sculpture--National Museum (Colombo, Sri Lanka)
Hermaphroditism in art
Description
The Ardhanarisvara, half god and half goddess is an expression in art of the essential unity of the male and female in cosmic terms. Belonging to this class of images is an Ardhanari bronze discovered at the Abhayagiri Vihare, Sri Lanka, during excavations connected with the Cultural Triangle Project in 1982. The image is vertically divided into a male on the left and a female half on the right which is unusual. Judging from a tubular knob at the back, it seems to have fitted into a socket in some part of a building. This miniature statue, cast in a dance pose can be seen at the Colombo National Museum. A date between the 6th and 9th centuries A.D. has been suggested.
Creator
Sirima Kiribamune
Source
Abhayagiri Vihare, Sri Lanka.
Date
Between the 6th and 9th centuries A.D.
Period of study: 1986-1987
Version: 01/12/2012
Contributor
Co-Author: Seneviratna, Harsha
Technical Officer: Wijesinghe, Lalith
Technical Assistant: Jayasundare, Subhashini
Photographer: Madanayake, I.S.
International Center for Ethnic Studies, Kandy, Sri Lanka
Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation
American Institute for Sri Lankan Studies, Colombo
Rights
All rights reserved by International Center for Ethnic Studies, Sri Lanka.
Relation
Forms part of Photographic documentation of Women as depicted in early Sri Lankan sculpture and painting / Slide in present collection
Format
JPEG 2000
Language
eng
Type
image
Identifier
PDWESLSP.S.79
Coverage
ce
Collection
Citation
Sirima Kiribamune, "Ardhanarisvara, hermaphrodite, Half god and half goddess," online in Digital Library for International Research Archive, Item #12576, http://www.dlir.org/archive/items/show/12576 (accessed April 24, 2024).