Semi-Divine

As semi-divine and auspicious Devi is manifested through nature and fertility spirits, celestial nymphs, and auspicious women. Women are considered auspicious through their association with fertility which signifies growth, abundance, and prosperity. This association led to a belief that contact with women brings trees, plants, and creepers into blossom. The ashoka tree, popularly associated with the flowering of a woman's foot, is celebrated repeatedly in Sanskrit poems and dramas.

[IMAGE: Sundari beneath the Mango Tree. India, state of Madhya Pradesh or southern Uttar Pradesh, mid-9th century. Sandstone. Lent by Mr. and Mrs. John Gilmore Ford. Poised beneath a mango tree this exquisite sundari (beauty) ignores the monkey perched on the branch above and reaches up with her right arm to bring down a cluster of ripe fruit into her raised, now-damaged, left hand. According to ancient lore, the sound of a woman's laughter was all that was needed to induce the mango tree to blossom and bear fruit. This figure speaks of the importance of the theme of woman in ancient India where her presence was believed to confer auspiciousness on any monument. The image emphasized the importance of the feminine, given its associations with the bearing and rearing of children. The female figure was an obvious emblem of fertility and thereby of growth, abundance, and prosperity, hence it was a short step to visualize her as a symbol of all that is auspicious. Carved as a decorative bracket to connect a pillar with the ceiling, this sundari graced the interior of a temple with her auspicious presence. As devotees glanced upward, their gaze would have met at least four such sundaris, creating a joyous atmosphere within the sacred precincts.]

Snake beings, in this context believed to be auspicious, are worshiped throughout India as divinities who provide protection from dangers, including snake bites. These snake beings, known as nagini, are portrayed as lovely women with a serpent head or backed by serpent coils.

The auspiciousness associated with images of women is believed to be transferred to the monument upon which they are sculpted or painted. A royal palace, a Buddhist stupa, or a Hindu or Jain shrine gains in fortune and prosperity when adorned with the figures of women.

[IMAGE: Nagini. India, state of Bihar, ca. 100. Gray terra-cotta. Lent by the collection of Anupam and Rajika Puri. One of the most striking of a group of early terra-cotta images, this sensuous yet disturbing figure has two serpents wrapped around her body. Her long hair, wound with a braided jeweled fabric, is arranged in a magnificent bun at the back, while her girdle consists of a string of large medallions decorated with a flora design and joined by rounded spacer beads. Despite its diminutive size, the image conveys a striking impression of strength and immensity. The two serpents that casually wind themselves around the body of this superb, although partly damaged, terra-cotta figure suggest her affiliation with semidivine serpent beings, the nagas and naginis. The exact identity of this serpent-related deity is difficult to establish. She seems to be an early prototype of a snake goddess and might be a protective deity invoked for protection again snakes as also against evil and poisons of other kinds.]

[IMAGE: Sundari beneath the Mango Tree. India, state of Madhya Pradesh or southern Uttar Pradesh, mid-9th century. Sandstone. Lent by Mr. and Mrs. John Gilmore Ford. Poised beneath a mango tree this exquisite sundari (beauty) ignores the monkey perched on the branch above and reaches up with her right arm to bring down a cluster of ripe fruit into her raised, but now-damaged, left hand. According to ancient lore, the sound of a woman's laughter was all that was needed to induce the mango tree to blossom and bear fruit. This figure speaks of the importance of the theme of woman in ancient India where her presence was believed to confer auspiciousness on any monument. The image emphasized the importance of the feminine given its associations with the bearing and rearing of children. The female figures is an obvious emblem of fertility and thereby of growth, abundance, and prosperity, hence it was a short step to visualize her as a symbol of all that is auspicious. Carved as a decorative bracket to connect a pillar with the ceiling, this sundari graced the interior of a temple with her auspicious presence. As devotees glanced upward, their gaze would have met at least four such sundaris, creating a joyous atmosphere within the sacred precincts.]

| PREVIOUS | NEXT |