Iconographic guidebooks are important components of Vajrayana (Lightning or Diamond Vehicle) art and meditative traditions. Typically they show the diagnostic features of a given deity, and the features are sometimes labelled, as they are here. This figure is Siddhalakshmi, a multi-armed esoteric form of the Hindu deity of wealth, Lakshmi. In Himalayan traditions, the ability to vanquish otherwise intractable problems is expressed through such supernatural imagery as multiple heads and hands. Siddhalakshmi sits atop the fearsome form of Shiva called Bhairava, recognizable by his tiger skin, serpent necklace, and half-moon in his headdress.
Details
- Title : Page from a Newari sketchbook: Siddhalakshmi
- Year : approx. 1600-1700
- Classification : Books And Manuscripts
- Medium : Ink on paper
- Dimension : H. 9 1/4 in x W. 7 5/8 in, H. 23.5 cm x W. 19.5 cm
- Accession No : 1994.20.3
- Country/ Geo-location : Nepal, perhaps Bhaktapur
- Collection : Asian Art Museum
- Credit Line : Gift of The Au Leshi Society, Inc.
- Acquisition Method : Gift
- Status : Not on display
- Department : Himalayan Art