Page 82 - 2021 March 17th, Indian and Himalayan and Southeast Asian Art, Christie's New York City

A Rare Figure of Sambandar

This large rare and important Chola bronze figure represents the beloved The present type has been previously erroneously identified as Shiva
child saint, Sambandar. Sambandar belongs to a group of 63 Shaiva-bhakti Bhikshatana (lot 429), since both representations share aspects of nudity and
saints known as nyanmars, or leaders, said to have traveled from temple the kapala-like cup. Representations of Sambandar in the present form are
to temple in South India to sing Shiva’s praises. Along with Appar and rare; the child saint is easily more recognizable in bronze images of him in the
Sundarar, Sambandar is one of the muvar, or three principle saints referred dancing posture, likened to images of the child Krishna dancing and trampling
to as the Revered Three (or Revered Four when incorporating the later saint the serpent Kaliya. Compare the present figure to a eleventh-century figure
Manikkavacakar) of South India. These three poet-saints are considered of Sambandar at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (acc.no. 2010.230). Both
responsible for writing the vast corpus of Shaiva hymns from the s eventh figures are impressive in their size, and are close comparisons in style and
through ninth centuries. composition, differing only in subtle details such as Sambandar’s necklace
and curls.
Much of what we believe about the historical Sambandar is dictated
through Tamil poetry, including the Periya Puranam, an eleventh-century
epic recounting the lives of the nyanmars. According to these sources,
Sambandar was born of Brahmin parents in the seventh century at
Sirkali, near Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu. As a young child, he frequently
accompanied his father to the temple. One day, at the age of three, his
father left him on the steps of the sacred tank as he entered to take his ritual
bath. Outside the temple, Shiva’s consort Uma found the child crying from
hunger and served him a bowl of milk from her own breast. When his father
returned, he found Sambandar playing contentedly with a golden bowl while
trickles of milk ran down his chin. In response to his father's questions about
the source of the milk, Sambandar burst into song and dance praising Shiva
and Uma while raising his hand and pointed toward their image, thus earning
his saintly status. From that moment on, he spent his days wandering
South India, singing and dancing in Shiva’s honor. Sambandar lived a brief
life, perishing in his teenage years; nonetheless, he is credited with having
composed thousands of hymns, many still recited today.
Owing to their significant impact on Shiva-Bhakti, images of Sambandar
and other saints became common in the Pallava and Chola periods and
continued in popularity to this day. These images are used in festival
processions alongside principle deities, often while singing the songs
the poet-saints composed themselves. Inscriptions describing the many
benefactions the twelfth-century Chola general made to the Nataraja
Temple in Chidambaram, nearby Sambandar’s hometown, identify an image
of Sambandar as well as a gold-embellished shrine to the child saint, used
for the daily recitation of Sambandar’s hymns. These records, as well as
the impressive bronzes that survive from the period, imply an important
independent role Sambandar maintained in temple worship.
Always depicted as a child, the style of the present figure of Sambandar is
typical in the Kaveri Delta region of the Chola Empire. In this image, he holds
Uma’s milk cup between two fingers of his left hand, while subtly gesturing
upward toward Shiva and Uma at their abode at Mount Kailash with his
right. His hair is arranged in neat rows of curls, flanked by unornamented,
yet elongated earlobes. He is naked, save for an infant’s girdle charmed
with bells draping his hips, a bejeweled collar necklace, and simple pairs
of armlets and anklets. The curling lotus petals which form the base are
in a quintessentially High Chola style. The figure maintains Sambandar’s
Child Saint Sambandar; India, Tamil Nadu, late 11th century; 29 3/8 in. (74.6 cm.)
childlike qualities, with a softly modeled body and unpretentious adornment, high; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2010.230.
while commanding the presence of a spiritual authority.