Ardhanār?śvara: What We Know and What We Do not

Ardhanār?śvara is an expression of male brahmanical orthodox discourse; yet, this fact does not dismiss or negate the primary role that Ardhanār?śvara plays as a symbol of wholeness and liberation within Indian religion. We know by looking at the image of Ardhanār?śvara that although Pārvat? is placed on the left hand side, she constitutes no less than half of Śiva's body. In other words, Ardhanār?śvara is as much female as he or she is male. Consequently, even though we see the anthropomorphic body of Ardhanār?śvara idealized by the patriarchal norms of sacred iconographic convention, we also recognize profound attempts at symmetry, complementarity, and wholeness. In this state‐of‐the‐field review, we look at both of these areas to establish what we know, and what we do not know, about Ardhanār?śvara.