Nandi – Figure of the Humped Bull of Śiva

Nandi’s white granite figure, the humped bull mount of Śiva, is garlanded and decorated with bells. In the southern Indian tradition, he is shown seated with his legs tucked beneath him, and the body is foreshortened in comparison with the head and front parts. 

Nandi (‘rejoicing’) is the name of the gate-guardian deity of the abode of Lord Shiva. He is usually depicted as a bull, which also serves as the mount to the god Shiva. 

Shiva is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being within Shaivism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism.

Shiva and Nandi’s worship can be traced to the time of the Indus Valley Civilization (3,300–1,300 BCE) period, and his crouching image today is often housed at a Shiva temple entrance.

The white color of the bull symbolizes purity and justice, and the humped bull symbolizes strength, virility, fertility, and religious and moral duties.

Nandi – Figure of the Humped Bull of Siva

• Title:                Nandi – Figure of the Humped Bull of Śiva
• Date:               16th Century
• Findspot:         India
• Materials:        Granite
• Culture:           Vijayanagara period
• Dimensions:    H: 86 cm; W: 96 cm; D: 61 cm; W: 613 kg
• Museum:        The British Museum

Bull in Indian Art

Bull: The Vahana of Shiva in Ancient Indian Texts

Who is Nandi to Shiva

Abhishekam of Nandi

A Tour of the British Museum

Ancient Egypt and Sudan Collection

• The Rosetta Stone
• The Battlefield Palette 3100 BC
• Quartzite Head of the Egyptian Pharaoh Amenhotep III
• Colossal Granite Statue of Amenhotep III
• Hunters Palette
• Tomb of Nebamun
• Younger Memnon (Ramesses II)

Middle East Collection

• The Lion Hunt
• Cyrus Cylinder
• Royal Game of Ur
• Gilgamesh Flood Tablet
• Stela of Shamshi-Adad V
• Standard of Ur
• Ram in a Thicket
• Tell al-‘Ubaid Copper Lintel

Ancient Greece and Rome Collection

• Marble figure of a Woman – Spedos Type
• The Parthenon Marbles
• The Parthenon Frieze
• Metopes of the Parthenon
• Pedimental Sculptures of the Parthenon
• The Erechtheion Caryatid
• Lion from the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
• Bust of Pericles
• Aegina Treasure
• Townley Caryatid
• Bronze Statue of a Youth
• Thalia, Muse of Comedy
• Nereid Monument
• Sarcophagus of Seianti Hanunia Tlesnasa
• Lely Venus – Crouching Aphrodite
• Tomb of Payava
• Marble Portrait Bust of the Blind Poet Homer

Britain, Europe, and Prehistory Collection

• Ain Sakhri Lovers
• The Sutton Hoo Ship Burial
• Lewis Chessmen
• Holy Thorn Reliquary
• Mechanical Galleon
• Black St George Icon
• Knight Aquamanile
• Gold Mold Cape

Asian Collection

• Seated Buddha from Gandhara
• Statue of Tara
• Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara
• Avalokiteshvara – Guanyin
• Nandi – Figure of the Humped Bull of Śiva
• Garuda
• Budai Hesheng
• Luohan – Yixian Glazed Ceramic Sculpture

 

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“You are what you believe in.
You become that which you believe you can become.”
– Bhagavad Gita

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Photo Credit: 1) JOM