Forms of the Goddess Lajjā Gaurī in Indian Art

Forms of the Goddess Lajjā Gaurī in Indian Art PDF Author: Carol Radcliffe Bolon
Publisher:
ISBN: 9788120813113
Category : Lajjā Gaurī (Hindu deity)
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The artists creating images of Lajja Gauri drew on various ancient symbols of fortune, fertility, and life-force to communicate her power through their rich heritage of meanings. Because there are no texts to explain the figure, the study proceeds from the basis of the objects to derive their meaning. Carol Bolon charts the changes in the goddess`s form over a period of more than four centuries, including its possible adoption from tribal worship into Hindu temples, and brings a new appreciation of Lajja Gauri`s rich symbolic meaning and cultural context.

Forms of the Goddess Lajjā Gaurī in Indian Art

Forms of the Goddess Lajjā Gaurī in Indian Art PDF Author: Carol Radcliffe Bolon
Publisher:
ISBN: 9788120813113
Category : Lajjā Gaurī (Hindu deity)
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
The artists creating images of Lajja Gauri drew on various ancient symbols of fortune, fertility, and life-force to communicate her power through their rich heritage of meanings. Because there are no texts to explain the figure, the study proceeds from the basis of the objects to derive their meaning. Carol Bolon charts the changes in the goddess`s form over a period of more than four centuries, including its possible adoption from tribal worship into Hindu temples, and brings a new appreciation of Lajja Gauri`s rich symbolic meaning and cultural context.

Forms of the Goddess Lajja Gauri in Indian art

Forms of the Goddess Lajja Gauri in Indian art PDF Author: Carol Radcliffe Bolon
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description


Forms of the Goddess Lajj? Gaur? in Indian Art

Forms of the Goddess Lajj? Gaur? in Indian Art PDF Author: Carol Radcliffe Bolon
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 9780271043692
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 190

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Book Description
Striking images of a certain Indian goddess have been variously referred to as the "shameless woman" the "nude squatting goddess," the "mother goddess," or, because her historical name remains unknown, more than twenty-five names, among them Aditi, Lajjā Gaurī, Renukā, and Nagna Kabambdha. The best-known images of this goddess have a female torso and a lotus flower in place of a head, while her legs are bent up at the knees and drawn up to each side in a position that has been described as one of "giving birth" or "self-display." This type of goddess figure is explained as part of a long, highly sophisticated tradition of expressing fertility and well-being in Indian art. The artists creating images of Lajjā Gaurī drew on various ancient symbols of fortune, fertility, and life-force to communicate her power through their rich heritage of meanings. As these historical-religious symbols and images were constantly reused and reincorporated, they formed a new and enriched religious context. In the process of recycling they became empowered cultural metaphors, visual morphemes in the language of Indian art. Because there are no texts to explain the figure, the study proceeds from the basis of the objects to derive their meaning. Carol Bolon charts the changes in the goddess's form over a period of more than four centuries, including its possible adoption from tribal worship into Hindu temples, and brings a new appreciation of Lajjā Gaurī's rich symbolic meanings and cultural context.

Hinduism and the Religious Arts

Hinduism and the Religious Arts PDF Author: Heather Elgood
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 0304707392
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 261

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Book Description
The roots between the Hindu religion and the wider culture are deep and uniquely complex. No study of either ancient or contemporary Indian culture can be undertaken without a clear understanding of Hindu visual arts and their sources in religious belief and practice. Defining what is meant by religion - no such term exists in Sanskrit - and what is understood by Hindu ideals of beauty, Heather Elgood provides the best synthesis and critical study of recent scholarship on the topic. In addition, this book offers critical background information for anyone interested in the social and anthropological roots of artistic creativity, as well as the rites, practices and beliefs of the hundreds of millions of Hindus in the world today.

The Goddess in India

The Goddess in India PDF Author: Devdutt Pattanaik
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1594775370
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 220

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Book Description
The first exhaustive collection of goddess mythologies from India. • Explores the evolution of goddess worship in India over 4,000 years. • Stunning color photographs illustrate many stories of goddess lore never before available in one collection. In India it is said that there is a goddess in every village, a nymph in every lake. Demonesses stand guard on village frontiers, ogresses howl on crossroads, and untamed forests resound with the laughter of celestial virgins. It is a land of mysterious Apsaras and seductive Yakshinis, of terrifying Dakinis and wise Yoginis--each with a story to tell. In this wide-reaching exploration of ancient Hindu lore and legends, author Devdutt Pattanaik discovers how earth, women and goddesses have been perceived over 4,000 years. Some of the tales recounted are revered classics, others are common and folklorish, often held in disdain by priests. Until now, most have remained hidden, isolated in distant hamlets or languishing in forgotten libraries, overwhelmed by the din of masculine sagas. As the tales come to light through word and stunning color imagery, the author identifies the five faces given to the eternal feminine as man sought to unlock the mysteries of life: the female half of existence is at first identified with Nature, gradually deified and eventually objectified. She comes to be seen as the primal mother, fountainhead of life and nurturance. The all-giving mother then transforms into the dancing nymph, a seductress offering worldly pleasures that bind man in the cycle of life. As this nymph is domesticated, the dominant image of woman becomes the chaste wife with miraculous powers. Finally the submissive consort redefines herself as the wild and terrifying goddess who does battle, drinks blood, and demands appeasement. Exploring mysteries of gender and biology, and shedding light on the roots of taboos and traditions practiced in India today, the author shows how the image of the Mother Goddess can be both worshipped and feared when she carries the face of mortal woman.

Archaeology and Text

Archaeology and Text PDF Author: Himanshu Prabha Ray
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN:
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 338

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Book Description
What is a temple? Who built or patronized such structures and why? Temples have always formed a crucial element of the cultural landscape of South Asia. Combining textual analysis, archaeology, and archival research with contemporary anthropology, Archaeology and Text provides a stimulating appraisal of religious life in the past. Through detailed case studies from regions like Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bengal, and Orissa, the book examines both the religious architecture of the temples and the cultural practices surrounding them. The essays underscore the importance of the temple in its interaction with diverse interest groups, such as worshippers, ritual specialists, ascetics, patrons, artisans, and others. They also show how temples were not only expressions of political authority but also formed important centres of learning, popular devotion, and pilgrimage. The volume explores the development of bhakti and ascetic traditions in the subcontinent in relation to temples. It investigates the relationship between sacrificial rituals and devotional practices; emergent religious cultures and older traditions; and temples and renouncers. The collection also questions the notion of boundaries surrounding religious traditions underlining the fact that present categories do not fit neatly in those of a bygone era. The introduction provides a succinct account of sacred spaces as they came to be defined in archaeological records from the first millennium BCE onwards.

Gods, Men and Women

Gods, Men and Women PDF Author: Seema Bawa
Publisher:
ISBN: 9788124606643
Category : Art, Ancient
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description


Many Heads, Arms and Eyes

Many Heads, Arms and Eyes PDF Author: Doris Meth Srinivasan
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004644970
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 447

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Book Description
One of the first things that strike the Western viewer of Indian art is the multiplicity of heads, arms and eyes. This convention grows out of imagery conceived by Vedic sages to explain creation. This book for the first time investigates into the meaning of this convention. The author concentrates on its origins in Hindu art and on preceding textual references to the phenomenon of multiplicity. The first part establishes a general definition for the convention. Examination of all Brahmanical literature up to, and sometimes beyond, the 1st - 3rd century A.D., adds more information to this basic definition. The second part applies this literary information mainly to icons of the Yaksa, Śiva, Vāsudeva-Kṛsṇa and the Goddess, and indicates how Brahmanical cultural norms, exemplified in Mathurā, can transmit textual symbols. Both Part I and Part II provide iconic modules and a methodology to generate interpretations for icons with this remarkable feature through the Gupta age.

Images of Indian Goddesses

Images of Indian Goddesses PDF Author: Madhu Bazaz Wangu
Publisher: Abhinav Publications
ISBN: 9788170174165
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
Goddess Images Are Omnipresent Within The Cultural Fabric Of India, Yet Most Indians Are Unaware Of Uplifting Meanings These Images Convey. In The Book, Images Of Indian Goddesses,. Dr. Madhu Bazaz Wangu Explains The Emergence Of Indian Goddesses Within The Changing Social, Political And Cultural Environment From The Prehistoric To The Present Times And Explains Their Metaphysical Meanings. Why Are Hindu Goddesses Paradoxical In Nature? Why Are They Portrayed As Erotic And Maternal Simultaneously? Why Do They Have Multiple Arms? Why Do Some Of Them Have Their Own Vehicle (Vahana) And Some Do Not? Why Are Such Images Portrayed On The Popular Calendar- Posters? The Book Answers Such Questions And Helps The Reader Understand Their Meanings. The Goddesses Discussed Range From The Devoted Sita To The Sinister Kali; From The Warrior Durga To The Auspicious Shri Lakshmi; From The Erotic Radha To The Serene Sarasvati And Many Others. Dr. Wangu Firmly Feels That If Experienced Hindu Goddesses Have A Potential For Stimulating The Onlooker'S Innermost Self. Experiencing Goddess Imagery Uplifts This Worldly Life And Ponders The Nature Of The Other -Worldly Existence. Furthermore, The Book Argues That The Goddesses Are Stimulating And Empowering Models Not Only For Indian Women But For All. Images Of Indian Goddesses Helps A Common Person Understand And Appreciate The Bewildering Number Of Female Images Expressed In India'S Sacred Art. The Book Is Not Only Absorbing And Inspiring, It Also Offers A Visual Treasury Of Goddess Art Images. Its Text Is Food For The Mind And The Illustrations Are A Feast For The Eyes.

Vicissitudes of the Goddess

Vicissitudes of the Goddess PDF Author: Sree Padma
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199325030
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 382

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Book Description
Drawing on archaeological, artistic, sculptural and inscriptional sources and participant/observer insights, Sree Padma reconstructs a history of goddess worship in India from ancient times (before the rise of Buddhism and bhakti) to contemporary cults of deified women.