Queen Sembiyan Mahãdevi was a title borne by various queens of the Chola empire. She could be the queen mother (king's mother), grandmother, aunt, etc. The most famous of them all is the mother of King Madurantaka Uttama Chola Deva. She was one of most powerful queens of the Chola empire who over a period of sixty years constructed numerous temples and gave generous gifts to many temples in South India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. Her endowments are simply staggering and she figures as early as, if not before, Saka 901 during the reign of her son. According to an inscription dated 941, Sembiyan Mahadevi is said to have made an endowment so that a lamp may be kept permanently lit in front of the Shiva

Shiva

Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...

 deity (perhaps not long after the crystallization of the Chidambaram

Chidambaram

Chidambaram is a fast growing industrial city in Eastern part of Tamil Nadu and the taluk headquarters of the Cuddalore district. It is located in 58 km from Pondicherry, 60 km from Karaikal, and 240 km south of Chennai by rail...

 Nataraja

Nataraja

Nataraja or Nataraj , The Lord of Dance; Tamil: கூத்தன் ;Telugu:నటరాజ is a depiction of the Hindu god Shiva as the cosmic dancer Koothan who performs his divine dance to destroy a weary universe and make preparations for god Brahma to start the process of creation...

 (Natarāja) cult).

The mother of Madhurantaka Uttama Chola

She was the queen of Gandaraditya Chola (Sri-Gandaraditta deva tam-pirattiyar) and is always referred to as the mother of Uttama Chola, Uttama Chola devarai tiru-vayiru-vaiykka-udaiya pirattiyar Sri Sembiyan Mādeyiar(the queen who had the fortune to bear Uttama Chola Deva alias the Great Queen of the Sembiyan (Chola))- in the inscriptions in order to differentiate her from the other queens who have borne the title before and after her. From various inscriptions we know that she was the daughter of a Malavarayan chieftain. In the beginning, she always refers to herself as the daughter of Mala-Perumānadigal.

Patron of Art and Architecture

She was very pious and was an avid temple builder and has built numerous temples some of which are at Kutralam, Virudhachalam

Virudhachalam

Virudhachalam is a municipality and taluk headquarters in Cuddalore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.-Etymology:...

, Aduthurai

Aduthurai

Aduthurai is a small panchayat town situated in Thanjavur District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, and located near Kumbakonam. A major attraction is the Ten Kurangaaduturai Temple, one of two Kurangaaduturai Temples...

, Vakkarai, Anangur, etc. She has made some of the most lavish endowments of the Chola empire. Tiru-Ara-neri-Alvar temple was one of the earliest temples built by her. She bestowed several gifts of bronzes and jewellery to the Nallur Kandaswamy temple

Nallur Kandaswamy temple

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 in 967-968 CE, including the bronze idol of the goddess of Nallur temple worshipped today, whose style is typical of Sembiyan bronzes.

Honored

From an inscription of Parakesarivarman Uttama Chola, we know that a regular śribali ceremony has been arranged at the UmaMahesvarasvamin temple at Konerirajapuram every month on the day of jyeshta, the natal star of the queen:

Sacred

Sembiyan Mahadevi was a consummate temple builder and a highly respected patron of the arts. During her lifetime, special celebrations marked her birthday in the Shiva

Shiva

Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...

(Śiva) temple in the town of Sembiyan Mahadevi, named after her, and a metal portrait of the beloved queen was presented to the temple in her honor, possibly commissioned by her son. As such, it would have been recognized as Sembiyan Mahadevi by its use in processions celebrating her birthday. This highly stylized bronze image is an instance of the blurring of lines between royal and divine portraiture in ancient Indian art

Indian art

Indian Art is the visual art produced on the Indian subcontinent from about the 3rd millennium BC to modern times. To viewers schooled in the Western tradition, Indian art may seem overly ornate and sensuous; appreciation of its refinement comes only gradually, as a rule. Voluptuous feeling is...

. The pose is reminiscent of the goddess Parvati

Parvati

Parvati is a Hindu goddess. Parvati is Shakti, the wife of Shiva and the gentle aspect of Mahadevi, the Great Goddess...

. Indian artists often portray Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

 deities with great attention to arm/hand details to emphasize their omnipresence

Omnipresence

Omnipresence or ubiquity is the property of being present everywhere. According to eastern theism, God is present everywhere. Divine omnipresence is thus one of the divine attributes, although in western theism it has attracted less philosophical attention than such attributes as omnipotence,...

 and omnipotence

Omnipotence

Omnipotence is unlimited power. Monotheistic religions generally attribute omnipotence to only the deity of whichever faith is being addressed...

. A variety of hand gestures, known as mudras, are used to express the mood and meaning of the images of the gods. For instance, when the palm is raised to face the worshiper, it is the gesture of protection (abhaya), while a lowered hand with the fingers pointing downward signifies a promise to grant the devotee's wishes (varada). The contrapposto pose, known in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 as tribhanga, or triple-bent, was a popular stance; it produced a sense of swaying movement, and most images, whether human or divine, are thus poised.

Visual metaphor

A metaphor

Metaphor

A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...

 in literature juxtaposes two seemingly unrelated things to highlight certain important aspects of one of them. The same is possible in visual art. With all exaggerated features, Sembiyan Mahadevi bronze is not meant to be taken literally. Sembiyan Mahadevi is a visual metaphor

Metaphor

A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...

 yet the most elusive from neuronal and aesthetic perspective. According to Ramachandran the exaggerated features of Sembiyan Mahadevi are meant to symbolyze specific divine attributes.