form of either a jatamakuta, jatamandala or kesabandha and

stands with level feet in the abhanga or the sama-bhanga posture. He may also be found seated with the right leg hanging down from the seat and the left leg bent crosswise so as to rest upon the seat. He holds the tanka (or, axe) in the right hand and shows the boon-giving posture in his left (fig. I03). 1 Sometimes both the hands are seen folded over the breast in a worshipping posture with the weapon tanka (or, sometimes, a flower garland) held between them. In this case he receives the name Adi-Chandesa. A story related in the Tamil Periyapurdnam about Chandesa makes him a fervent devotee of Siva, who in his height of devotion, cut off the legs of his own father, because he wantonly spilt the milk-pots which Chandesa had secured as loving offerings to Siva. Sankaracharya, who lived perhaps in the early part of the eighth century A.D., refers to this Saiva devotee Chandesa as pitridrohin, " the sinner against (his) father," evidently with reference to the story related in the Pcriyapuranam. The form of Siva known as Chandesanugrahamurti, described above, is entirely based on this anecdote.

Nandi, Nandlsa or Nandikesvara, now represented by the recumbent bull placed in front of the chief shrine in a Siva temple, is described by Hemadri to be one of the attendant demi-gods of Siva. He is stated to have three eyes and four arms and to wear a tiger's skin. In two of his hands he holds the trident and the bhindivala " a short javelin." The third hand is raised up over the head and the last shows a stretched finger (tarjanl), his eyes being watchful and fixed towards people coming from a distance into the Siva temple. The Varaha-Purana says that, though originally an ascetic, Nandi by his austerities and devotion to Siva was blessed with a form similar to that of Siva himself and was placed at the head of the attendant ganas of Siva. A metallic image (fig. 104) from Valuvur (Tanjore district) represents him in this metamorphosed form. He has four arms of which the two back ones hold the tanka and the deer and the two front are joined together palm to palm in a worshipping posture. By the side of Nandisvara stands also his wife with two arms. 2

1 This last is the form of Chandesa usually found in Siva temples. In the illustration, however, the left hand rests on the thigh and the position of the legs is reversed.

2 A verse in praise of Nandi describes him as the husband of Suyasa. He stands at the entrance into Siva temples with a knife or golden cane held in his hands so as to touch the kufpara of his right arm. In one of the mandapas of the Ekamresvara temple at Conjeeveram, Nandi is represented in the same posture as Garuda, carrying in his out-stretched fore-arms the feet of Siva and Parvati.