Bhuvanesvari/Bagala

1880–90

Not on view

The left print, which is labeled Bhuvanesvari, shows the fourth of the ten Mahavidya goddesses seated on a couch. In her left hand she holds an elephant goad and a cord. Bhuveneshvari is the supreme goddess who is credited with all creation and with destroying evils in the world.

The print to the right shows a goddess that is labeled as Bagala, again one of the ten Mahavidyas goddesses. She is presented pulling the tongue of a sword-wielding green figure with one hand, and with the other she strikes him with a club, symbolizing her destruction of a devotee’s misconceptions and delusions. Following iconographic conventions she has a golden complexion, a yellow dress, and sits on a corpse. This goddess is associated with duality and opposites: speech into silence, power into impotence, defeat into victory and so on.

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

Title: Bhuvanesvari/Bagala
Date: 1880–90
Culture: India
Medium: Lithograph
Dimensions: Image: 11 1/4 × 15 1/2 in. (28.6 × 39.4 cm)
Sheet: 12 × 16 in. (30.5 × 40.6 cm)
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: Gift of Mark Baron and Elise Boisanté, 2012
Object Number: 2012.523.3
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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