id: 145968
accession number: 1971.173
share license status: CC0
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1971.173
updated: 2023-03-11 20:50:54.471000
Ravana Shaking Mount Kailasa, 700s. Central India, Madhya Pradesh, Chandela Dynasty, 8th century. Sandstone; overall: 139 x 72 cm (54 3/4 x 28 3/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Sundry Purchase Fund 1971.173
title: Ravana Shaking Mount Kailasa
title in original language:
series:
series in original language:
creation date: 700s
creation date earliest: 700
creation date latest: 800
current location: 244 Indian and Southeast Asian
creditline: Sundry Purchase Fund
copyright:
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culture: Central India, Madhya Pradesh, Chandela Dynasty, 8th century
technique: sandstone
department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
collection: Indian Art
type: Sculpture
find spot:
catalogue raisonne:
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CREATORS
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measurements: Overall: 139 x 72 cm (54 3/4 x 28 3/8 in.)
state of the work:
edition of the work:
support materials:
inscriptions:
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
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PROVENANCE
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fun fact:
digital description:
wall description:
According to followers of the branch of Hinduism that considers Shiva to be the ultimate, original creator of the universe, he takes on a mythological form and resides in his created world. His home is in the Himalaya Mountains, on Mount Kailasa, where he lives with his wife Parvati. In one episode of Shiva's mythology, he presses down his big toe to quell the ten-armed demon Ravana, who tried to steal Mount Kailasa and take it away to his island. As Ravana was trying to shake the mountain loose, Parvati turned and clung to Shiva in fear— the moment depicted in this magnificent sculpture, which once formed part of a temple exterior. It is thought that Shiva created the world for the sake of his own enjoyment, his lila or divine play, and emanated himself into all the beings of creation: gods and demons, humans and animals. He shrouded their awareness of the reality that they were in essence the god Shiva himself, so that they would perform the actions of his cosmic drama.
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
page number: Reproduced: p. 301
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n321
Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 53 no. 05, September/October 2013
page number: Mentioned and reproduced: p. 173
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAMM2013-05/page/16
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IMAGES
web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1971.173/1971.173_web.jpg
print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1971.173/1971.173_print.jpg
full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1971.173/1971.173_full.tif