A chromolithograph diptych published by the Calcutta Art Studio around 1885 to 1895, part of a set of five sheets depicting the Ten Mahavidyas, two goddesses to a sheet, labelled in Bengali and English. The left field shows Bhuvaneshvari, worshipped as the embodiment of the power of knowledge and often shown enthroned as a queen of the cosmos. The right field shows Bagala, whose full name Bagalamukhi is read as "the one who checks the mouth", a goddess invoked to silence an opponent's speech and still the restless mind, typically shown pulling the tongue of a demon with one hand and wielding a club in another. Part of the same series later exhibited by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in "Household Gods: Hindu Devotional Prints, 1860-1930".
Facts
Custody
Current LocationThe Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 2 Current CustodianThe Metropolitan Museum of Art 2 Subject Matter
Depicted SubjectBhuvaneshvari (left field) and Bagala/Bagalamukhi (right field), two of the Ten Mahavidyas. 2 Rights and Reproduction
Reproduction and CopyrightThis atlas describes and cites the print rather than reproducing an image of it. 2 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names Bengali directly: "two goddesses to a sheet, labelled in Bengali and English."
Depicts
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