Shiv Parvati sculpture from Chattisgarh State Museum.
Parvati, the consort of Lord Shiva, is one of the most popularly sculpted goddess in Indian history. Partial credit is due to Lord Shiva as many a times Parvati is shown along with Shiva. Parvati has various other incarnations such as goddess Kali, Durga etc. Iconographically, it is easy to recognise Parvati when she is shown along with Shiva as Shiva's sculpture characteristics are easy to recognise (i.e., nandi, the bull, snakes, trident, jatamukut etc). Shiva is typically shown wearing Kundals in his ear lobes, and so is Parvati. Shiva is shown with a jata mukut (hair crown) and so is Parvati. Many a times, the Kundalas are in the form of snake (sarp kundala). Shown below are some photographs that I have collected from various museums that go on to highlight the iconographic characteristics of Parvati. Sometimes Parvati is shown in combination with Shiva though the body is one. In that case, a third eye is shown in the centre of her forehead.
The above photo is of Shiva- Parvati Sculpture kept in National Museum, New Delhi (11th century C.E; Pala Dynasty, Bihar, India). As can be seen, Parvati is typically shown wearing the same ear ornaments (such as sarp kundala) as Shiva, and also has an unusually large head bun, just like Shiva.
