Tirugnanasambanda
unknown (Indian (South Asian))
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Alternative Titles
Sambandar
Tirujnanasambandha
Date
1400-1499Description
Overall front view; Sambandar (also many variant spellings) was a young Saiva poet-saint of Tamil Nadu who lived around the 7th century CE. He is one of the most prominent of the sixty-three Nayanar saints; his hymns to Shiva were later collected to form the first three volumes of the Tirumurai, the religious canon of Tamil Saiva Siddhanta. He was a contemporary of Appar, another Saiva saint. He is usually portrayed as a nude boy; he produced his first hymn at age three. Here he is shown dancing. He can be identified by the index finger of his right hand pointing upward (to Shiva’s heavenly abode at Mount Kailash). From Perambalur, Undivided Tiruchy District.
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art [website]; http://www.metmuseum.org (accessed 5/13/2015)
Type of Work
sculpture (visual work)Subject
saints, Hinduism, Saivite, Saivism, Vijayanagar
Rights
Rights Statement
Licensed for educational and research use by the MIT community only