Bhairava refers to the terrific nature of Shiva. This is a 10th century Khujaraho sculpture of Bhairava. He is in a standing position with a kapala (skull cup) and a broken trishula (trident) in his lower arms while holding a damaru (kettledrum) in his upper right hand. What looks like the staff of the trishula could also be kankala, a bone weapon. This Bhairava sculpture is broken below the knees making it difficult to visualise the standing posture. It is evident from the bend in the waist that the figure had a slight shifting of the weight on the left hip, creating an interesting pose.
