DAILY PHOTO: Finnish Totem
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I’m a neophyte with respect to Hindu iconography–plus I read no Indian languages, so I may be wrong about this being a Shiva. Shiva is usually depicted clean-shaven, but I’ve seen bearded images. I mostly based my conclusion on the tiger skin (or stylized representation thereof) that he’s sitting on, which is often associated with Shiva.
Shiva is part of the Hindu trinity, which also includes Brahma (the creator) and Vishnu (the sustainer.) This leaves Shiva, the destroyer.
If you’re someone who actually knows about such things, and know I’m wrong, please drop me a comment to let me know.
What’s interesting about this batch of statues at Nek Chand is that nobody wears shorts in India (let alone short shorts.) If you see someone in shorts, you can be certain they’re either a tourist or part of a very specific demographic (i.e. 20 to 25 year olds of middle / upper-middle class backgrounds whose all-time favorite television show is either “Big Bang Theory” or “How I Met Your Mother.”)
Incidentally, the Nek Chand Rock Garden is the highlight of a trip to Chandigarh, and shouldn’t be missed. It’s a labyrinthine park made out of recycled materials. A lot of these materials–particularly for the early phases of the project–came from the villages that had been torn down to make room for the new city. On the order of fifty villages were razed so that India’s premier planned city could come to fruition.
Béla Czóbel is a Hungarian artist (Post-Impressionist painter), and this statue was made by another Hungarian artist (sculptor) Imre Varga. It sits in a nondescript location in Szentendre. I’m sure Czóbel wasn’t as angry as he appears in this sculpture. Actually, I’m not sure of that at all. He may have been.