Title : Goddess
Accession No : 7/4387 (2)
This is a late 19th century painted Snake-Goddess seated on a pedestal. She is seated with her left leg folded and right leg lying down. She is holding a bowl in her left hand while right hand is in a fist. The pedestal is raised into a halo with seven snakehoods. Her skin is depicted with red colour, wearing a blue coloured blouse accompanied with a lower garment. She is adorned with a conical Mukut over her head, stylised earrings and nose ring. She has big eyes, narrow eyebrows, long nose and two pointed teeths coming out of her mouth.
Gallery
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Provenance
- StateAndhra Pradesh
Condition
- ConditionAverage
- Action NoteCR, Slightly Damaged, Darkening
Contributor
- Community / TribeNakash
Dimensions
- Measurement (CMS)45 x 31 x 14
- Weight (GRMS)0.00
Significance
- ReligiousManasa is a Hindu goddess of snakes. She is worshipped mainly in Bihar, Bengal, Jharkhand, Lower Assam and other parts of northeastern India and in Uttarakhand, chiefly for the prevention and cure of snakebite, and also for fertility and prosperity. In Hindu mythology, Manasa is the sister of the first two naga kings, Shesha and Vasuki, and the wife of Sage Jaratkaru. She is the mother of the sage Astika. She is also known as Vishahari (the destroyer of poison), Nityā (eternal) and Padmavati. Traditionally Manasa Devi is not worshipped with an image. For the purpose of worship a branch of a tree, an Earthen pot or the image of an Earthen snake is used to worship the Goddess. In the Eastern Bengal, especially in Barishal, practise of offering prayers to this Earthen pot as a ritualistic practise of worshipping Goddess Manasa.
Description
- DescriptionThis is a late 19th century painted Snake-Goddess seated on a pedestal. She is seated with her left leg folded and right leg lying down. She is holding a bowl in her left hand while right hand is in a fist. The pedestal is raised into a halo with seven snakehoods. Her skin is depicted with red colour, wearing a blue coloured blouse accompanied with a lower garment. She is adorned with a conical Mukut over her head, stylised earrings and nose ring. She has big eyes, narrow eyebrows, long nose and two pointed teeths coming out of her mouth.
- Inscription/Markings No
- Reference"Jain, Jyotindra and Aarti Aggarwala. National Handicrafts and Handlooms Museum, New Delhi. Ahmedabad: Mapin Publishing Pvt. Ltd., 1989. Chattopadhaya, Kamaladevi. Handicrafts of India. New Delhi: Indian Council for Cultural Research, 1975."
- KeywordSnake, Goddess, Manasa, Bowl, Mukut