Discourses on Siva is a collection of essays on the nature of religious imagery in Indian art. Focusing on Saivite monuments, Saivite iconography, iconology, literary sources, and forms of Siva, they fulfill several intentions: to clarify the historical processes of and rationales for image formation in India; to give an overview of current methodologies for approaching art in its Indian context, particularly of the ways in which scholars have established subtle as well as obvious links between visual and written traditions; and to create a foundation for viewing religious art in India in relation to more "literary" artistic traditions elsewhere.