Enthroned Shiva Adored by Vishnu and Brahma with Entertainers

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Enthroned Shiva Adored by Vishnu and Brahma with Entertainers

India, Jammu and Kashmir, Basohli, circa 1675-1680
Drawings; watercolors
Opaque watercolor, gold, and silver on paper
Image: 5 7/8 x 10 1/4 in. (14.92 x 26.03 cm); Sheet: 7 3/8 x 11 1/4 in. (18.73 x 28.57 cm)
From the Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection, Museum Associates Purchase (M.81.8.11)
Not currently on public view

Curator Notes

In this expression of sectarian rivalry, Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction, sits enthroned in a pavilion. He has a single crowned head with his third eye of wisdom and red sectarian markings....
In this expression of sectarian rivalry, Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction, sits enthroned in a pavilion. He has a single crowned head with his third eye of wisdom and red sectarian markings. He wears a long floral garland and profuse jewelry. He holds a rosary in his left hand. His right hand is held in the symbolic gesture of 'gift-giving’ (varada mudra). Shiva is being adored by Vishnu, the blue-skinned god of preservation; and Brahma, the four-headed god of creation, who holds an honorific parasol over Shiva and carries a manuscript of the Vedas and an ascetic’s water vessel. In a separate chamber in front of the deities, a group of female entertainers celebrates the auspicious occasion. A dancer performs accompanied by a drummer playing a mridangam drum and two women playing hand cymbals. Rising above the pavilion’s roofline are a second-story structure, flowering trees and cypresses, and a distant compound.
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Bibliography

  • Rosenfield, John.  The Arts of India and Nepal: The Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection.  Boston:  Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1966.