A Western Indian model of Khandoba and Mhalsa

A Western Indian model of Khandoba and Mhalsa, the long legged horse stands four square, 19th century, 31.5cm. Provenance: Ernest Ohly Collection. Khandoba is a regional Hindu deity, worshipped mainly in the Deccan plateau of India. The cult of Khandoba has links with Vaishnava and Jain traditions and developed during the 9th and 10th centuries from a folk deity into a deity having composite characters and attributes of Shiva, Bhairava, and according to some scholars, also of Surya. He is depicted either in the form of a Lingam, or as an image riding on a bull or a horse.