This is Ardhanari, a syncretic form of Siva and Parvathi, with Siva on the right half and Parvathi on the left.

Two-armed, holding gada, part of the hair arranged in a bun (like what you see in crawling Krishna) and the other part plaited (see the back view)and left hand resting on the hip, this iconography challenges the conventional portrayal of Ardhanari.

Features worth noting are the differences in the patterns of the lower garment (The right side shows tiger skin) and the differences in the Banga, with the left side in Tribanga.

This pilgrim bronze depicts Ardhanari as worshipped in Trichengode temple in Tamil Nadu. It is unusual to find a temple dedicated to Ardhanari. A photo of the Trichengode Utsav Murthy is on our right. Courtesy KP Ravichandran’s FB pages.

The Vigraha is about 8 cm tall, and it is from Tamil Nadu. This may be dated to the 18th-19th century. The Utsav Murthy was donated during the Vijayanagar period (14th-16th century).

This is a Pilgrim bronze. Normally the pilgrim bronzes depict the deity in worship in that Shetra. They are mass produced (less expensive), and are small (portable). However, in this case it does not look like a mass produced Vigraha. The quality of casting and the detailing is well above average.

Note: The first time I came across this iconography was about four years ago. That was in a collection. It took me four years to find another one.