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Shiva Saint: Manikkavachakar
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
During the 7th through 9th centuries in south India there was a devotional movement of saints who experienced personal mystical encounters with their god. They then composed poems and songs in their native language of Tamil that described the ecstasy and experiences of the interaction. Manikkavachakar was one of these saints; he lived during the 9th century and composed some of the most popular Tamil devotional hymns about his visions of Shiva. In his left hand he holds the pages of texts that refer to his poetry and songs.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineShiva Saint: Manikkavachakar, 1100s–1200s. South India, Tamil Nadu, 12th-13th century. Bronze; overall: 33.5 x 9.1 cm (13 3/16 x 3 9/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund, 1967.148
