V&A text: This is an image of Nandi, the sacred bull-calf. In Sanskrit Nandi means ‘joyfulness’ or ‘blissfulness’ and refers to the emotions experienced by a devotee in the presence of Lord Shiva. Temples dedicated to Shiva, the Hindu lord of creation and destruction, are found throughout the Indian subcontinent. An essential element in any Shiva temple is the image of Nandi. It occupies an axial position, focusing the attention of the faithful from the outer halls of the temple directly into its spiritual heart, the ‘garbhagrha’ (‘womb chamber’). Late 16th century-early 17th century (made). 114 images, sony A600 gallery lighting, reality capture 1.1. Poorly captured ears, under foreleg and very shiny stone. Quite a reasonable model given that.... https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O24787/nandi-figure-unknown/