This representation of the deity Bhairava, now in the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, was once part of a building in Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley. The deity was an integral part of a wooden support that supported an overhanging eave.
Bhairava is actually one of the forms that the Hindu deity Shiva takes on. H. Krishna Sastri, who was Asst. Archeological Superintendent for Epigraphy (Southern Circle) in the early twentieth century, describes Bhairava in his book South-Indian Images of Gods and Goddesses (Madras Government Press, 1916), p. 151:
“Bhairava, born of the blood of Siva, is another god of this class [the class of fierce or terrible forms of Shiva]. The Tantrasara mentions eight forms of Bhairava which are fit for worship. His general form shows dishevelled matted hair, three eyes and a red-coloured body. His symbols are the trident, sword, noose and the kettle-drum. He is naked and is represented as being followed by all kinds of demons and spirits and riding on a dog. Hemadri describes Bhairava as a pot-bellied god with round red eyes, terrible face, protruding teeth and wide nostrils. He wears a garland of skulls and ornaments of snakes, thus frightening even his consort who stands by his side. The upper half of his body which is dark in colour is covered with the elephant’s hide. He has many arms and holds all destructive weapons. The Silpasara makes him seated on a jewelled throne under the celestial tree mandara, closely embraced by the goddess.”
I don’t know to what extent Bhairava takes on another form in Nepal, but the Bhairava in the Walters Art Museum does in fact have round eyes, protruding teeth, and wide nostrils. He wears a garland of either skulls or heads, and something that could be a snake is draped around his neck. At one time, his six hands held various items, but those are all lost now — perhaps they included a trident, a sword, and/or other destructive weapons. He is either naked or close to it, and he is riding on the back of an animal that could be a dog. In short, this Bhairava from the Kathmandu Valley seems to be very similar to the South-Indian Bhairava described by H. K. Sastri in 1916.
The Daya Foundation, a Nepalese nonprofit organization, published a blog post last August titled “Bhairav in Nepal.” In that post, they offered this interpretation of Bhairava’s origins:
“The cult of Bhairava, historically, is deeply rooted in the ancient tribal and folk traditions of the Indian subcontinent, where he was initially revered as a tribal deity. Over time, Bhairava’s worship evolved, and he became widely recognized as a territorial protector deity. This transition signifies a profound development in the deity’s role, shifting from a local or tribal guardian to a more expansive protector whose domain extended over larger territories. Bhairava’s transformation into a protector deity is intricately linked with the spread of Tantric traditions within Hinduism. In these traditions, Bhairava embodies the fierce manifestation of Lord Shiva, representing the destructive and protective aspects of the divine.”
In this blog post, the Daya Foundation describe some of the ongoing worship of Bhairava. Among other things, Bhairava is connected with the Nepalese monarchy, “as a guardian of both the spiritual and the civic welfare of Kathmandu.”