Skip Navigation

Balarama

Asian Art

This figure can be identified as Balarama because of the hooked plow that he holds in his left hand (now damaged) and the multiple hooded cobra heads that appear above his left shoulder. The snake hoods recall the god’s role as a manifestation of the serpent Shesha. The placement of the snake hoods at one side is extremely unusual; typically they circle Balarama’s head like a halo.
MEDIUM Red sandstone
  • Possible Place Made: Central region, Rajasthan, India
  • DATES ca. 8th-9th century
    DIMENSIONS 17 1/2 x 10 3/4in. (44.5 x 27.3cm) Other: 17 1/2 x 10 3/4in. (44.5 x 27.3cm)  (show scale)
    COLLECTIONS Asian Art
    ACCESSION NUMBER 86.227.158
    CREDIT LINE Gift of the Ernest Erickson Foundation, Inc.
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Balarama, ca. 8th-9th century. Red sandstone, 17 1/2 x 10 3/4in. (44.5 x 27.3cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Ernest Erickson Foundation, Inc., 86.227.158. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 86.227.158_acetate_bw.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 86.227.158_acetate_bw.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
    You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
    RECORD COMPLETENESS
    Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.