A bronze representing Parvati in the seated position is presently on display in the Gallery of Polonnaruwa Period at Colombo National Museum, Sri Lanka. Discovered from a Siva Devale in the Polonnaruwa Ancient City, this was originally part of the Uma-maheshvara murti which is now exhibited in the Polonnaruwa Museum.
The Bronze
The statue is 41 cm in height and depicts Parvati, the wife of the Hindu god Shiva. The right arm holds a lotus bud and it overreaches the nipple of the right breast (Krishnarajah, 1983). The statue is believed to have been cast in Sri Lanka by a metal sculptor who has been trained in the traditional local Buddhist customs (Krishnarajah, 1983).
Scholars have dated this statue to the 10-13th century A.D. (Krishnarajah, 1983).
References
1) Krishnarajah, S., 1983. Saiva Bronzes in Sri Lanka. Dissertation submitted in the partial fulfilment of M.A. degree in Ancient History and Archaeology, University of Mysore, India. p.40.
