This sculpture of Shiva, the four-armed Hindu destroyer god, is a fragment that was originally part of a larger sculpture. Archaeologists pay careful attention to fragmentary details to figure out what the entire sculpture might have looked like when it was made in the eleventh century. By looking closely at the details, we can begin to see the story of Shiva's battle with the demon Andhaka.

Can you find these details? Roll your cursor over the image of the sculpture to zoom in!

• The figure of Shiva (the large figure wearing many body ornaments)
• Shiva's face
• Shiva's teeth
• Shiva's arm-band
• A crown made of skulls on Shiva's head
• Two of Shiva's hands
• The handle of a sword (Clue: see Shiva's upper hand)
• The handle of a trident (three-pronged pitchfork) (Clue: see Shiva's lower hand)
• The three prongs of the trident, which hold the demon Andhaka

Two of Shiva's arms are missing. Where do you think they were? How can you tell? According to legend, they would have held bowls to catch drops of blood from the demon, which would have spawned more demons if they had hit the ground.

What other parts of the sculpture seem to have been lost over time? What could have caused these losses?