The Descent of the Ganges (Gangavatarana)
This scene depicts the Hindu god Shiva’s role in one of the great origination myths of ancient India, the origins of the ancient river Ganges, who descended to earth from the Himalayas in a great deluge. The ascetic sage Bhagiratha, seen standing on a tiger’s skin, his hands clasped in in veneration, has through yogic practices and austerities compelled Shiva to grant him the boon of bringing the celestial river Ganges down from heaven to earth. Ganga is here shown in the form of a youthful goddess enveloped in a cascade of water descending from the sky. Bhagiratha petitioned Shiva to bring the Ganges to earth in order to consecrate and purify the cremated ashes of his ancestors and to alleviate a worldwide drought. As the mighty descent of this river threatened to destroy the earth, Shiva, who was meditating on Mount Kailash high in the Himalayas, broke its fall by catching the river in his hair (a moment routinely depicted in Chola bronzes of Shiva Nataraja). In this print, Shiva braces himself against the impact of the descending Ganga while his consort, Parvati, uneasy at the arrival of a beautiful rival, leans nonchalantly on Shiva’s bull, as the waters begin to spill across the earth.
Artwork Details
- Title: The Descent of the Ganges (Gangavatarana)
- Date: ca. 1910–20
- Culture: India
- Medium: Lithograph with varnish
- Dimensions: Image: 13 15/16 × 9 13/16 in. (35.4 × 24.9 cm)
- Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Purchase, Marie-Hélène Weill Gift, 2016
- Object Number: 2016.483
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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