Annual Ford Lecture: Shiva, the Mystic Lord and Dancing Liberator

Registration is required.

Shiva, also known as Mahadeva or “Great God,” has been conceived as inhabiting wide-ranging forms. The many different manifestations in which he appears and is worshiped include as a simple, pillar-like form (“Linga”); an ascetic; and a member of a “holy family” grouping. In this lecture, German scholar Corinna Wessels-Mevissen, PhD, will discuss objects visualizing Shiva in his multiple modes, including a rare 10th-century stone sculpture that depicts him as a supreme but humble ruler, along with other works in the Walters collection.