The Hindu mother goddess Hariti, protector of children, is shown here in her Javanese guise as Men Brajut. She is seated with a child standing between her legs and originally held an infant at her shoulder. Hariti is often identified as the wife of Kuvera, the nature deity (yaksha) who presides over earthly riches. Open at the top to allow a wooden post to pass through, the terracotta figure served as an ornament on the base of a pillar, probably of an open pavilion (mendopo). Many such sites have been identified at Trowulen, the capital of the Majapahit kingdom of East Java.
