The Beauteous Bhadrakali Sitting Amidst Lush Fields (Tantric Devi Series)

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Bhadrakali is a Tantric Devi who is worshipped along the Eastern Ghats as well as the Southern fringe of the Western Ghats. While a large number of devotees revere Her as the more subdued version of the Devi Mahakali, She is said to be the daughter of Shiva in the Tantra Rahasya, having emerged from His blue-coloured three-eyed uttaramnaya (Northern face). She is the very personification of the wrath of the Devi when Her father Daksha insulted Her husband Shiva during the great Ashvamedha Yajna. Like Her father, Her skin is the colour of blue dusk. Unlike the Mahakali, She is bedecked in vibrant silks, gold, and pearls, and holds in Her hands some freshly blooming lotuses and a drink in a gold cup brought to Her by Her gorgeous handmaidens.

Apart from the dusky skin that gives away Her tantric origin, note the naked figure prostrate underneath Her that She has for an asana. Other than these, everything about this watercolour is as relatable and calming for the regular devotee; from the soothing green of the grass dominating the base of the painting, to the pristine wisps of pale clouds in the sky. Her handmaidens are divine beings themselves, given that all three devis in the picture are wearing a lotus-trimmed crown of gold on the head and have a sliver of the moon rests on the brow. One of them raises above Devi Bhadrakali's head an Indian aratee implement that gives away the direction of the wind.