Ancient Umamaheshwara metal sculpture found at Taggunje in Udupi district of Karnataka

The Umamaheshwara cult was founded by Soma Sharma of Gujarat in the 10th-11th century. Within no time, it became popular in the Indian sub-continent. It was influenced by Vajrayana Buddhism, and love is its central theme.

A Umamaheshwara metal sculpture, which was probably made in the 17th century in the 12th century style, has been found at Taggunje in Ajri village of Kundapura taluk in Udupi district of Karnataka. Made of five metals, it is a rare combination of Shaiva-Shaktha and Naga cult, according to T. Murugeshi, a retired Associate Professor of Ancient History and Archaeology.

Lord Shiva is seated, with his consort Parvati (Uma)on his left lap, on a lotus platform. Lord Ganesha is on his right side, Shanmukha on his left, and Nandi is below his right foot on the platform.

He has Jatamukuta as his headgear, and a third eye in the centre of his forehead. Lord Maheshwara holds a parashu (axe) in his back right hand and a mriga (deer) on his back left hand. His front right hand shows abhaya mudra and left hand touches the left thigh of his consort. Over the head of Lord Shiva is a five-headed serpent as umbrella.

Uma holds in her left hand a lotus bud and her right hand holds Lord Shiva. She is adorned with a kirita as her head gear, and both are well ornamented. A beautifully crafted prabhavali (arch) is at the back of the image with a centrally located lion, or kirtimukha.

“When we unlock the idol from its platform, we can see two lines written on the surface of the platform. The first line reads Murthy Saakshi, which means ‘on the witness of this idol’. The second line says ‘G 3 ke ra Shu 14’, which means gold of 3 gadhyanas was used in preparing this idol, and it contains 14% gold,’” he said.

The writing is in Kannada with script of the 17th century.

“It is the deciding factor on the age of this idol. Therefore, this beautiful sculpture was probably made in the 17th the century, as the 12th century style is evident (it means the idol was made in the 17th century using the 12th century style),” he said. “Stylistically, it looks like a 12th century sculpture.”