Dancing Devi Sarasvati, Under A Canopy Teeming With Life

The Devi Sarasvati dances to the music of Her own veena. She is Haripriya (‘Hari’ is another name of Lord Vishnu; ‘priya’, the Sanskrt word for favourite), wife of Lord Vishnu, presiding deity over learning and the fine arts. This explains why the veena is an indispensable element of Her iconography, just like in this standing wooden panel crafted after the style of South Indian temple architecture of yore. In fact, the spring in Her stance and motion of Her form set this apart from your run-of-the-mill Devi Sarasvati murtis.

On the soft belly of a gigantic lotus rests the single foot of a laterally bent leg. The other is raised mid-air, while Her curvaceous hips jut out sharply sidewards. Clearly the sculptor has captured Her amidst a gracious dance routine. The chaturbhujadharini (four-armed) Devi holds a rosary and a scrolled up pothi in Her posterior hands; with Her anterior left hand She cradles the slender neck of Her instrument, while the right She rests upon its bosom. Her beauteous face is framed by a pair of gold karnakundalas, a mass of jet black tresses cascading down Her back, and a multi-tiered crown tapering upwards in keeping with traditional Southern iconography.

A dense, gorgeously coloured network of vines constitutes the Devi’s aureole. Birds of richly coloured plumage and luscious fruits nestle amidst the soft, nourishing verdure. Zoom in on the same in order to appreciate the precision and attention to detail prevailing in the composition.