Hoyshaleshvara Temple Sculpture, Halebidu (Halebeedu)

Also known as: Hoysalesvara Temple Sculpture, Halebid

About the Artwork

On the recommendation of a friend, Oakeley marched 20 days along treacherous country roads to locate the Hoyshaleshvara Temple in southwestern India. Finding it more beautiful than any other building he had seen in southern India, he framed his subject to capture a sense of the lavish number of vivid sculptures that enliven the temple's walls. At the right is the Hindu god Shiva with his wife, the goddess Parvati, seated on his mount, the bull Nandi. At the left, Shiva and Parvati are seated on Mount Kailasha, which a multiarmed demon is attempting to dislodge.

Inscriptions

written in pencil on recto of mount: "Q1437"

Provenance

?–2001: (Charles Isaacs Photographs, Inc., New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) 2001–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Exhibition history

Travel Photography: Early Images of India. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 2-July 17, 2002). Indian Gallery 242b Rotation – November 2017-April 2018. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (November 10, 2017-April 16, 2018). Temples and Worship in South Asia. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 14, 2024-March 9, 2025).

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 7, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.

Quick Overview

Artist: Richard Banner Oakeley (British, 1834–1914)
Date: 1856–57
Medium: albumenized salt print from waxed paper negative
Dimensions: Image: 27.2 x 29.2 cm (10 11/16 x 11 1/2 in.); Mounted: 35.3 x 44.4 cm (13 7/8 x 17 1/2 in.); Matted: 50.8 x 61 cm (20 x 24 in.)
Type: Photograph
Classification: Photograph
Department: Photography
Credit line: John L. Severance Fund
Accession no.: 2001.152

Open-access museum record · AT-00000367