Gramadevada ("Village God/Goddess")
Artist
Southern Indian
Date16th century
Mediumbronze
Dimensions9.5 x 5.7 x 3 cm (3 3/4 x 2 1/4 x 1 3/16 in.)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineGift of Dr. and Mrs. Alfred Yankauer
Object number1985.327
Label Text2005-02-26: Gramadevata (Village God or Goddess)
16th century, bronze
Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Alfred Yankauer, 1985.327
Gramadevatas are gods and goddesses intimately connected with village life who preside over the fertility of fields, villagers and animals. They have the power to cause floods and droughts and can possess a person in order to make their wishes known.
This figure wears a "sacred thread" (yajnopavita) symbolizing the three gunas (cords or attributes), i.e., purity (sattva), energy (rajas) and inertia (tamas), forces of nature related to the creation and evolution of the universe. The mark (namam) on the forehead resembles that on the face of the famous image of the Lord of Venkata, a form of Vishnu (Venkateshvara or Venkatesha), worshipped at Tirumala, near Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. The mark, consisting of three vertical lines joined at the base, is known as Thirumann (sacred earth or dust) and signifies the fact the men and women of this world will all be transformed. Notes:Evoking Rasa in Luminous Visions: Indian Art from the Chester and Davida Herwitz CollectionProvenanceDr. and Mrs. Alfred Yankauer, Amherst, MAOn View
Not on view
