This majestic sculpture of Goddess Parvati shows her standing in the elegant
tribhanga posture. In this particular posture of the goddess, the head,
torso, and legs, all slant in contrary directions. The legs and hips jutt to
the right, the trunk to the left, and the neck and head then again gently to
the right. It is a lyrical, dreamy, very graceful pose. The three curves
formed by the body symbolize the three worlds, upper, lower and middle,
better known in
Sanskrit as triloka. This is also popularly known as the
posture of three bends.
One hand of the goddess is extended in a posture of ease and the other is
raised. On her head is a karanda-mukuta (cone-shaped crown) at the center of
which is a flaming pearl. She wears a couple of necklaces, the longer of
which is strung with a central pendant. A sacred thread slithers between her
sharp and shapely pointed breasts. Her elegantly draped lower garment,
incised with horizontal lines, clings closely to the contours of her limbs,
held in place by an elaborate girdle.