How pearl-laden Chola bronzes reimagined Shiva

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“In the eyes of devotees, these bronzes were not inert objects of metal but deities imbued with divine presence—gods who could see, hear, and feel,” said Dehejia during her recent lecture at the India International Centre in New Delhi. And so, he set out to create not just a divine figure but a heart-stealer—one so bewitching it would transcend time itself, said Vidya Dehejia, author of the 2021 book, The Thief Who Stole My Heart: The Material Life of Sacred Bronzes from Chola India, 855–1280. New Delhi: A thousand years ago, in a quiet coastal village, a master sculptor stood...