Handpainted – Pattachitra – Ardhanarishvara with Nandi and the Lion

Provenance

'Ardhanarishvara with Nandi and the Lion' is a Pattachitra painting from Odisha of Ardhanarishvara, the form in which Shiva and Parvati share a single body, one half male and one half female. The image expresses the unity of the two, and the painting sets it within a richly coloured temple shrine.

The figure stands beneath a scalloped arch, the left half as Shiva with a pale body, a matted crown, a trident and a blue dhoti, and the right half as Parvati with a golden face, jewellery and a patterned red garment. At their feet rest Shiva's white bull Nandi and Parvati's lion. Behind them, a temple facade of green, pink, orange and blue tiers rises to a stepped roof against a blue sky with white clouds.

Green, orange, pink and blue form a vivid, joyful palette, with the black of the niche throwing the figure forward. The architecture is covered in fine pattern, and a border of white brick motifs and an outer border of flowers on dark green frame the scene. It is a meaningful painting for a couple's home, a prayer room or a living room.