Dancing Kumāra

The dancing youth depicted here is Kumara (Boy or Prince) alongside his peacock mount. Colorful inset jewels enhance the liveliness of the child’s animated posture. Though also considered to be the god of war (alternatively called Skanda or Karttikeya), Kumara is frequently represented as a child because he conquered his fated enemy only a few days after being born. According to the story, there was a rampaging demon who could only be killed by a son of Siva, an ascetic hermit who would presumably never marry. In a complex tale of love and fate most famously told by the 4th- to 5th-century Indian epic poet Kalidasa, Siva eventually weds the devoted Parvati, leading to the birth of Kumara and the destruction of the demon.