Exam 3 - Hindu Art: Slides Flashcards
Name: Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva worshipping the Goddess Indrani
Date: 17th Century
Significance: This painting shows Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva paying tribute to the goddess Indrani who is holding incredibly powerful artifacts such as:
- Shiva’s Trident and Drum (Damaru) of Creation
- Vishnu’s Conch Shell and club/mace (Gaddha)
The eyes on Indrani also show her omniscience as she posseses a mind’s eye that can see everything.
Name: Brahma honoring Krishna
Date: 18th Century
Significance: This painting shows the god Brahma honoring the god Krishna, who is the most revered avatara of the god Vishnu. In the painting you can identify both gods easily. Brahma’s relics such as his water pot are present and he has his signature look where he has four heads and four arms. Krishna is easily identified in this painting as he has blue skin and orange/yellow robes and wears a single crown.
Name: Vishnu Asleep on the Serpent Ananta
Location: Dashavatara Temple
Date: 5th Century CE
Significance: This painting shows Vishnu asleep on the massive serpent Ananta dreaming the god Bhrama (the Creator) and the entire universe into being. You can see his wife Lakshimi massaging his leg in this painting, as she acts as his Shakti. This essentially makes Lakshimi a manifestation of the Great Goddess Devi who is energizing Vishnu as he completes the task of sculpting the universe.
Name: Vishnu Asleep on the Serpent Ananta (Aihole version)
Location: Vishnu Temple, Aihole
Date: 6th Century CE
Significance: Another version of Vishnu Asleep on the Serpent Ananta, this one features much more fluid imagery and has a much more undulating figure style. Present in this image is Vishnu dreaming Brahma and the universe into being while some Yakshi massage and watch over him.
Name: Vahara and the Boar Avatara of Vishnu
Location: Udayagiri
Date: c. 400
Significance: This image shows Vishnu assuming his boar avatara in order to save the world (represented by the goddess Bhu) from a raging flood.
Name: Vishnu as the Fish Avatara Matsya
Date: 17th Century
Type: Miniature painting
Significance: Vishnu, the preserver of the cosmos is present as an avatara, incarnated as a giant fish to combat a sea demon, which symbolically is the same as him saving the world from a gigantic flood.
Identifying Symbols: Cosmic weapons such mace/club (gaddha), discus wheel (chakra), conch shell (his battle trumpet as well as water being the source of all life and cosmos that he preserves), the lotus (the universe he protects), and the color blue (celestial color)
Style: Flat, decorative, patterened forms, brilliant color, along with a conceptual treatment of space.
Name: Three Headed Shiva (Mahadeva)
Location: Shiva Temple, Elephanta
Date: 7th Century
Significance: This temple statue represents the three different aspects and manifestations of Shiva’s being: The Creator, the Preserver, and the Destroyer (of the universe). While it isn’t readily apparent which head represents each role, one can guess that the middle head that faces the viewer is the Preserver, as that role is “preserving” the balance between the other two powers, which wold be represented by the heads facing right or left.
Name: Shiva Nataraja, the Lord of the Dance
Significance: Bronze relief sculpture, shows him creating, preserving and destroying the cosmos. Notable feature include: the drum of creating that he is holding, the flame of destruction (Agni), the ring of fire he is dancing in (the universe), and the green figure that symbolizes ignorance (maya).
Name: Durga Slaying the Buffalo Demon
Type: Relief Sculpture
Date: 7th Century
Period: Pallava Perioid
Significance: Shows Durga, the militant, dynamic form of Dervi and Parvati, holding weapons and cosmic relics given to her by male gods. She is using these along with her Vahana (the lion in the work), to destroy the Buffalo Demon named Mahisha.
Name: Standing Parvati
Date: 11th Century
Identifying attributes: Mudras: right hand holds a flower, while the left hand gestures to “go freely”. Parvati is pictured here in the tribhanga pose and has a very sensual and undulating form with voluptious curves and the ideal female proportions (large bust, skinny waist, large hips).
Name: Ganesha
Date: 11th Century
Identifying attributes: Ganesha is holding his signature axe weapon and bowl of sweets. Ganesha also only has one tusk and is shown with his Vahana, the rat located at the bottom of the carving. Ganesha is possibly going to use his axe to remove obstacles, which is his speciality among the gods.
Other items such as Ganesha’s noose and elephant goad are not present in this work.
Name: Chamunda
Type: Stone sculpture
Date: 10th-11th century
Significance: in this sculpture we have Chamunda, the horific manifestation of the great goddess Devi. Chamunda is depicted as an old emaciated, and almost skeletal hag with symbols identifying sickess and death. Her role as Chamunda is to be the destroyer of demons and is very similar to Kali, “the Black One”.
Name: Krishna Battling the Horse Demon Keshi
Date: 5th Century
Name: Krishna Dancing with the Gopis
Type: Miniature Painting
Date: 17th Century
Name: Krishna and Radha
Type: Miniature painting
Date: Early 18th Century
