Parvati Receives Shumbha’s Messenger, Folio from a Devimahatmya (Glory of the Goddess)

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Parvati Receives Shumbha’s Messenger, Folio from a Devimahatmya (Glory of the Goddess)

India, Himachal Pradesh, Kangra, South Asia, circa 1820-1830
Drawings; watercolors
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Image (Image): 6 3/4 x 10 1/8 in. (17.145 x 25.7175 cm) Sheet (Sheet): 9 3/4 x 13 1/8 in. (24.765 x 33.3375 cm) Frame: 14 × 19 in. (35.56 × 48.26 cm)
Gift of the Joseph B. and Ann S. Koepfli Trust in honor of Dr. Pratapaditya Pal (M.2011.156.1)
South and Southeast Asian Art
Not currently on public view

Curator Notes

Dating from circa 550 CE, the Devimahatmya (Glory of the Goddess) is a devotional text of 700 Sanskrit verses that extol the Goddess (Devi) as the supreme power and creator of the universe....
Dating from circa 550 CE, the Devimahatmya (Glory of the Goddess) is a devotional text of 700 Sanskrit verses that extol the Goddess (Devi) as the supreme power and creator of the universe. The verses were interpolations to the earlier Markandeya Purana dating from circa 250 CE and then extracted as a stand-alone text. This painting illustrates Chapter 5 of the Devimahatmya in which the powerful demon Shumbha has sent a demonic messenger, Sugriva, to invite Parvati to marry him. Parvati informed the messenger that, by her personal vow, she could not marry anyone who did conquer her in battle. Shumbha and his demonic brother Nishumbha then futilely attacked the goddess with their armies and were defeated. Here, in a mountainous landscape Parvati sits engaged in conversation with Shumbha’s messenger. Parvati is richly adorned with strands of pearls and gold jewelry with pearls and emeralds. She is two-armed and carries none of her customary iconographic attributes, but on her forehead has horizontal sectarian markings indicating her religious affiliation with Shiva. On the right side of the painting, utilizing the technique of continuous narration, the messenger leaves to report back to Shumbha. See also M.77.118 and AC1999.127.21.
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