How pearl-laden Chola bronzes reimagined Shiva

"In the eyes of devotees, these bronzes were not inert objects of metal but deities imbued with divine presence—gods who could see, hear, and feel," said Dehejia during her recent lecture at the India International Centre in New Delhi. And so, he set out to create not just a divine figure but a heart-stealer—one so bewitching it would transcend time itself, said Vidya Dehejia, author of the 2021 book, The Thief Who Stole My Heart: The Material Life of Sacred Bronzes from Chola India, 855-1280. New Delhi: A thousand years ago, in a quiet coastal village, a master sculptor stood…