Bhadrakali worshipped by sage Chyavana — Lalita Kapilavai — Traditional Artist
© Lalita Kapilavai — Traditional Artist. Digital Atelier & Cultural Archive. Digital reproduction, automated screen captures, and unauthorized printings are strictly prohibited.
Bhadrakali worshipped by sage Chyavana
Natural pigments, shell gold and shell silver on wasli paper • L= 27.7cms; W=20.3cms
Bhadrakali worshipped by sage Chyavana
Iconographic Commentary & Symbolism
In Basohli tradition we find one of the most powerful expressions of Devi in all her glory from benign to the fierce forms. This iconic image is a portion of a complete painting where the Devi sitting atop a sprawling corpse appears before the sage Chyavana in response to his meditational activity. The goddess is painted in gold and richly adorned with jewels and pearl strands. She holds the attributes conch, mace, discus and a lotus bud in her arms, the ones that are usually attributed to Vaishnavi (the shakti form of Vishnu) and wears a long garland of wild flowers. A row of highly stylised trees in multiple hues mark her presence in an ethereal world.
The presence of thin strips of sky and foreground is a characteristic feature of a Basohli painting.
