Watercolour painting on paper of Ahalya, the wife of the seer Gautama, seated on a plinth with a back, on a terrace with a building behind her. A covered doorway is also shown. She wears lavish textiles and jewellery and holds a flower in her right hand. In front of the plinth is a vase with flow...
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Statue of four-armed goddess with child (?Devi) and other fragments of sculpture, Rajaona, Monghyr District - 1871
Photograph of a statue of a four-armed goddess with child (Devi?) and other fragments of sculpture from Rajaona, Monghyr (Munger) District, taken by Joseph David Beglar around 187...
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Photograph of a carved stone column in Allahabad, from an Album of Miscellaneous views in India, taken by Thomas A.Rust in the 1870s. Allahabad, located on the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna, is an important place of Hindu pilgrimage. The for...
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Detail of two sculptured architraves from Garhwa, Allahabad District - 1875
Photograph of two sculptured architraves from Garhwa, Allahabad District, taken by Joseph David Beglar in the 1870s. The town of Garhwa is rich in the remains of Gupta monuments and sculptures. A large number of sculpt...
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Close view of sculpture of Kurmavatara (tortoise incarnation of Vishnu), Garhwa, Allahabad District - 1875
Photograph of a sculpture of Kurmavatara (tortoise incarnation of Vishnu), from Garhwa, Allahabad District, taken by Joseph David Beglar in the 1870s. At Garwa there is a pentagonal shape...
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A roundel of Lord Vishnu's avatar as Kurma, the tortoise, during the churning of the ocean by the gods and demons to retrieve the nectar of immortality - 19th century
Vishnu on Garuda rescuing the elephant Gajendra - 1875
Photograph of a sculpture panel on the south face of the Dashavatara temple, Deogarh taken by Joseph David Beglar in the 1870s. Deogarh is located in the modern state of Madhya Pradesh. The Dashavatara Temple at Deogarh was built during th...
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Vishnu saving the elephant, Gajendra in 'Gajendramoksha'.
ca.1820
Trichinopoly, India
Inscription:
'An elephant was caught by an alligator in a Tank and was unable to get out for several years. At last the Elephant called upon Vishnoo to protect him and Vishnoo then came.'
Artist: Griffiths, John
Bombay School of Art
Oil on canvas
This painting is largely damaged on the right hand side. On the left hand side is an elephant who is adorned with jewellery. Below the elephant ...
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Photograph of the ivory Throne Chair and stool presented to the Queen by the Maharaja of Travancore in 1851, Windsor Castle, by Sir Benjamin Stone, 1899.
Ladies feasting and drinking wine - 18th century
Opaque watercolour and gold on paper
The painting shows a group of ladies and their female attendants at leisure under an orange awning fixed to a pavilion on a terrace within a garden setting with trees in the background and grass in front. Th...
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Tree Dryad (Shalabhanjika)
12th–13th century
India (Orissa)
Ferruginous stone
Dimensions: H. 42 1/2 in. (108 cm); W. 14 in. (35.6 cm)
Integrated into the carved facades of Indian temples is a host of seductive females whose identifications are not always apparent. Some are nature spirits....
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New Book:
Salabhanjika in Art Philosophy and Literature
By U.N.Roy
Published by Indian Press, Allahabad - 1979
Salabhanjika refers to the sculpture of a woman, displaying stylized feminine features, standing near a tree and grasping a branch.[1] The name of these figures comes from the Sanskrit ...
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Sculpture piece excavated from the Stupa at Bharhut: Pillar with Culakoka devata - 1874
Photograph of part of a pillar depicting a jetavana scene, excavated from the stupa at Bharhut taken by Joseph David Beglar in 1874. We cannot be sure what part of the stupa this piece came from, however it...
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From stupa 1 at Sanchi, Central India
1st century AD
For a bracket from a stupa gateway
The Great Stupa at Sanchi is said to contain the relics of the Buddha himself. The form of the stupa was a development of the ancient practice of erecting a h...
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Shiva is depicted here as Nataraja (Lord of the Dance), standing in a ring of fire in the anandatandava position. He is both the creator and destroyer of the world. He is standing on a dwarf, symbolising ignorance. Richly decorated bronze statues of Hindu gods lik...
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