Here the right half of Lord Shiva is joined with the left half of his consort Parvati to form an androgynous figure. This form is Ardhanarishvara, meaning “Lord who is half-woman,” although sometimes described as "half-women/half lord." These figures first appeared in India in the first century CE. Ellen Goldberg examines 17 versions with different variations that include bending and straight postures, a varied number of arms, and different objects (battle axe, trident, drum, mirror, parrot, lotus).

This South Indian Chola style Ardhanarishvara, found in the ninth century, is not exactly equal. The male half has greater power, as there are two right arms instead of one, and one is holding a parasu, Shiva’s battle axe. The figure is in a tribhanga posture with three bends, head to the left, torso to the right, and right leg bent. At the center of the forehead is the third eye, a mark of divine wisdom, although an alternative interpretation is that the mark represents a divine energy associated with the “universal mother.”

These images, both enduring and reinterpreted over centuries in art, combine male and female characteristics and aspects, capturing the joining of opposites, and expressing the non-dual nature of divinity.

Androgyne video: https://vimeo.com/505737983

Sources: Neeta Yadav, Ardhanarisvara in Art and Literature, 2001; Ellen Goldberg, The Lord Who Is Half Woman: Ardhanarisvara in Indian and Feminist Perspective, 2002.