Shorhasi/Chinnamosta

The labeled goddesses in the two prints of this folio, Shorhasi and Chinnamosta, are regional deities that had particular importance in late 19th century Bengal. Paintings described in the Kathamrita related to these specific goddesses were hanging in the house of Nanda Bose and this may have been the source of these Calcutta Art Studio prints (Pinney).

The left print shows Shorhasi siting on a lotus that emerges from Shiva’s navel; an iconography that is based on the popular and longstanding tradition of showing Brahma emerging from a lotus that grows from Vishnu’s navel. Below sit Shiva, Brahma and Vishnu together with two figures clad in red.

The print to the right shows the ferocious goddess Chinnamosta, who had cut her own head off and is drinking the blood that gushes from her severed neck, together with two subsidiary attendant goddesses (her emanations). She stands on a copulating couple who are supported by a lotus. She is one of the ten Mahavidyas (ten tantric aspects of devi). Temples devoted to Chinnamosta are mostly found in North India and Nepal where she is associated with the awakening of kundalini spiritual energy.