Handcrafted Black Marble Dakshinamurthy Shiva Statue, 24in

The form that teaches in silence

Dakshinamurthy is Shiva facing south, and the form is unusual among his images: he is not dancing, not destroying, not withdrawn in samadhi. He is teaching — and the teaching is wordless. The lower right hand holds the chin mudra, thumb and forefinger closed into a circle, the gesture that carries the whole meaning of the form. Beneath his right foot lies Apasmara, the crouching figure of forgetfulness, pinned but not crushed. The upper hands carry a small flame and the damru.

He sits at ease on a rock seat under the banyan, one knee drawn up, the other leg down. Four arms, no more — the count is deliberate and it is checked. The high matted jata carries a crescent moon, and rudraksha strands fall across the chest with the sacred thread.

Why sculptors reach for black stone here

Black stone takes one of the deepest polishes of any material in the trade, and on a seated figure the reward is a long unbroken highlight down the shoulder and thigh that a lighter marble cannot hold. It also does something specific for this form: the carved detail stays readable inside the shadow, so the mudra and the face read clearly even when the piece is lit from a single lamp in a pooja room.

The finish here is a mirror polish. Black stone is one of the few materials that reaches a true mirror on the 60-degree gloss standard, and honing or flaming it would grey the surface and lose exactly that.

Size, weight and where it sits

At 24 inches with the prabhavali arch, this is a floor-standing or low-plinth piece rather than a shelf one — roughly 17 inches across, 14 deep, and about 65 kilograms with the lotus base. That weight wants a solid surface: a stone or hardwood plinth, a built-in niche, or the floor of a pooja room. It is a piece for a meditation corner or a temple installation more than a mantelpiece.

Make it yours

Height, stone and the depth of carving are all yours to set. The same form works at 18 inches for a home altar or well past three feet for a temple; the arch can be simplified or dropped entirely, and the base can be plain or lotus-carved. Tell us the space and we will design it with you, brief the sculptor, and follow the piece through to your door.

A commission of this kind takes eight to twelve weeks depending on the detail you choose. If your date is tighter than that, say so — there may already be a carved piece of this form with one of the sculptors we work with, and we will ask and send you photographs of the actual statue before you decide.