A miniature image of Shiva Dakshinamurti, rarely seen in copper alloy. The four-armed Shiva, as a mendicant guru, holds a snake and a trident in his upper hands and a manuscript in his lower left hand while the lower right hand is held in vitarka (teaching) mudra. He sits on a rocky outcrop, in the posture of royal ease with one leg resting across the other. His lower foot is resting on the back of the demon or dwarf (Apasmara) of ignorance. Four small figures of rishis or sages are seated at the corners round the base, and in the forests of Shiva's Himalayan seat tiny figures of animals can be seen at the back. Below this the lowest, square sections of the base are decorated with incised lines. There are holes at the back for an arch which is now missing.