Jyeshtha Flanked by Her Children
Jyestha is the goddess of bad fortune, embodying all that is inauspicious. As the embodiment of disease and poverty, she is worshiped to prevent such misfortunes. Here, she is seen enthroned, holding a blue lotus (nilotpala) and flanked by her crow-headed standard (dhvaja). Alongside sit her daughter and her bull-headed son, carrying a club. Jyestha is placated by devotees fearful of infant diseases; in eastern India she is specifically associated with smallpox. Her earliest appearance is in northern India in the fourth century; in the south, a major cult developed, as witnessed by her depiction at the early eighth-century Pallava-period Kailashanatha temple in Kanchipuram. Her cult appears to have waned in the post-medieval era.
Artwork Details
- Title: Jyeshtha Flanked by Her Children
- Period: Chola period (880–1279)
- Date: 9th–10th century
- Culture: India (Tamil Nadu)
- Medium: Granite
- Dimensions: H. 32 1/2 in. (82.5 cm); W. 27 1/8 in. (68.9 cm)
- Classification: Sculpture
- Credit Line: Gift of Doris Wiener, 1986
- Object Number: 1986.512
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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India, Tamil Nadu
second half of the 8th–early 9th century
Indian (Tamil Nadu)
ca. first quarter of the 10th century
India (Tamil Nadu)
ca. third quarter of the 10th century
India (probably Bihar)
late 6th–early 7th century
India
second half of the 8th–early 9th century
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