Untitled

Unknown

ca. 1870–80 · Lithograph printed in black, hand-colored with crimson, yellow, and grey watercolor and white gouache · Asian Art

Jagadhatri represents an aspect of the Hindu goddess Durga (Parvati) widely worshipped in West Bengal and Odisha, and most lavishly in the annual puja held in the Hooghly district of Kolkata, celebrated in the month of Kartik (mid-November). The goddess rides a lion which has slain an elephant—visible between the lion’s forelegs—while it holds the trunk in its jaws. She is dressed in red and seen in four-armed form, displaying a discus and conch in her upper hands (acknowledging Vishnu) and a bow and arrow in her lower hands. A third eye in her forehead and a snake rising above her left shoulder signal her higher allegiance to Shiva.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 1870–80

Medium

Lithograph printed in black, hand-colored with crimson, yellow, and grey watercolor and white gouache

Culture

West Bengal, Calcutta

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Gift of Mark Baron and Elise Boisanté, 2021