A brass statue of Nandi, the steadfast mount of Lord Shiva, holds a special place in Hindu culture. This regal depiction of Nandi, resembling a powerful bull, symbolizes his role as Lord Shiva's devoted companion.
The artistry in these brass statues highlights Nandi's strength and unwavering loyalty. Nandi's posture, expressive eyes, and commanding presence reflect his deep devotion to Lord Shiva.
Typically, in Hindu temples, Nandi is placed facing the sanctum sanctorum, symbolizing his readiness to convey prayers to the deity. Devotees believe that seeking Nandi's blessings can pave the way for a more direct connection with Lord Shiva.
Brass Nandi statues, with their intricate craftsmanship and cultural importance, serve as revered objects of devotion in Shiva temples and among worshippers, honoring Nandi's role in their spiritual journey.
This highly ornate brass statue of a bull, beautifully anodized revealing various colour-effects, copper and gold in special, represents Nandi, or Nandin, the bull that served Shiva as his mount. With a high-raised hump and a body lengthier than normal this form of Nandi has great resemblance with Indus bull and has in it perhaps its ancestral links. There is now greater unanimity in regard to the fact that Indus people had some kind Shiva worship cult.
Besides their dairy culture, the Indus people’s reverence for the bull seems to have been deeper than what they could have for an animal having material utility. Bull seems to have for them some special significance. In every likelihood, it seems, they perceived in Shiva and the bull some kind of affinity, perhaps Shiva using the bull as his mount, and hence they worshipped bull along with Shiva.
Since the earliest times, at least since the temple architecture had its beginning, Shiva and Nandi have inseparable unity. No Shiva temple was considered as complete, and no votive Shiva-ling, accomplished, unless it had an image of the Shiva’s mount Nandi facing it. A larger Panchayatana temple, a form of temple architecture with four subordinate corner-shrines that evolved in around the tenth century, as the famous Kandariya Mahadeva temple at Khajuraho, dedicated to Lord Shiva, essentially had a Nandi-shrine facing the main temple.
In most of the early Shiva temples the Shiva-ling icons were installed in the centre of the inner chamber and Nandi images facing them with their backs turned to the main entrances. Sometimes Nandi statues were installed facing the votive Shiva-ling icons just outside the main entrances. In early texts such images of Nandi have been designated as Nandi-dhwaja. A dhwaja defined a temple’s identity as Shaiva or Vaishnava temple. Similar to Nandi-dhwaja the Vaishnava temples had Garuda-dhwaja. Vaishnava temples had Garuda icons sometimes on the temple’s ‘lalata’ – lintel, though in Shaiva temples, instead of a Nandi form, the lintel was defined by a Ganesh icon. In later temples, Ganesh emerged as the uniform lintel image for both Shaiva and Vaishnava temples.
Many Puranas allude to Nandi by different names. Here his status is quite different. Not an animal or Shiva’s mount, in Puranas Nandin was one of Shiva’s divine attendants – ‘Parshad’, like Virabhadra. Shiva considered both, Nandin and Virabhadra, as his sons. Nandin was the son of sage Shilad and his initial name was Shailadi. Shilad was childless. He performed rigorous penance dedicated to Shiva for a son. Shiva granted him the boon of a son. One day when tilling land for ‘yajna’ there unearthed from it a child having like Shiva himself three eyes, four arms and matted coiffure. Shilad brought the child but the moment it reached home it transformed into a normal child.
Shilad named it Shailadi. When about eight-nine years, Shailadi learnt that he had a short life-tenure. To evade his early end Shailadi resorted to rigorous penance pleased by which Shiva blessed him with immortality and adopted him as his son and admitted him among his ‘Parshads’. Nandin had accompanied Sati when she went to attend her father Daksha’s ‘Yajna’, and later with Virabhadra he was one among them who destroyed Daksha’s ‘Yajna’ and killed Bhaga, one of the ‘purohits’. Puranas, however, do not reveal how from his human form Shailadi transformed into the bull Nandin. Maybe, disguised in animal forms Shiva’s ‘Parshads’ performed on stage for entertaining their Master, Shailadi chose to disguise as bull serving as mount to the main figure representing Shiva, and hence his transformation in popular mind.
The majestic look of the bull conforms to the animal’s divine status worthy of Shiva’s mount. Conceived with the gracefully raised head, gold-mounted toes, three laces of bells on the neck, a gorgeous saddle ornamented with gold design-patterns and overlaid with extra gold-ornaments and a heavy gold-chain adorning the tail, all speak of the divine grandeur of the animal. Its large well-alert eyes and the forward-pushed front foot suggest that the animal is ready to move and act. By any parameters it presents the most accomplished example of metal-casting.
This description by Prof. P.C. Jain and Dr. Daljeet. Prof. Jain specializes on the aesthetics of literature and is the author of numerous books on Indian art and culture. Dr. Daljeet is the curator of the Miniature Painting Gallery, National Museum, New Delhi. They have both collaborated together on a number of books.
How to keep a Brass statue well-maintained?
Brass statues are known and appreciated for their exquisite beauty and luster. The brilliant bright gold appearance of Brass makes it appropriate for casting aesthetic statues and sculptures. Brass is a metal alloy composed mainly of copper and zinc. This chemical composition makes brass a highly durable and corrosion-resistant material. Due to these properties, Brass statues and sculptures can be kept both indoors as well as outdoors. They also last for many decades without losing all their natural shine.
Brass statues can withstand even harsh weather conditions very well due to their corrosion-resistance properties. However, maintaining the luster and natural beauty of brass statues is essential if you want to prolong their life and appearance.
In case you have a colored brass statue, you may apply mustard oil using a soft brush or clean cloth on the brass portion while for the colored portion of the statue, you may use coconut oil with a cotton cloth.
Brass idols of Hindu Gods and Goddesses are especially known for their intricate and detailed work of art. Nepalese sculptures are famous for small brass idols portraying Buddhist deities. These sculptures are beautified with gold gilding and inlay of precious or semi-precious stones. Religious brass statues can be kept at home altars. You can keep a decorative brass statue in your garden or roof to embellish the area and fill it with divinity.
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