The Tibetan deity Chenrezig is the most untiring of the Bodhisattvas. With His thousand arms and thousand heads, He strives until space and time remains to free those of us in ihaloka (current realm of existence) of existential perpetuation and suffering. In this superb sculpture of the Lord Chenrezig, He is depicted in a rudimentary bhadrasana. The plenitude of limb and head is invisible to us ma

A one-of-a-kind bitone Buddha composition. The predominant color is black, which has the unmistakable sheen of marble. The medium captures the otherworldly glamour of the erstwhile Shakyamuni. The complementary color, white, is to be found in the dotted raiment clothing of the seated figure, which makes for a surreal visual experience. Legs gathered in the perfect padmasana - heels together direct

She is the fairest Devi of the Hindu pantheon. She strums Her veena, cradled on the lap of a divine lotus. She lulls Her devotees with Her music and Her charm. She is the wife and the loved one (‘priya’) of Lord Brahma, who presides over the creative process (termed ‘srshti’ in Indian philosophy). She is the Devi of learning and the arts, crucial to that process. She is Devi Sarasvati, the

Balaji is considered Lord Vishnu's Kaliyug Avatar. Lord Tirupati Balaji is believed to be so powerful that mere sight of the idol is enough to emancipate a man from a lifetime of suffering. Lord Venkateshwara is a full four-armed representation of Vishnu. But only two are visible from the front. Lord Balaji is shown having a U-shaped tilak on his forehead which is the signature style to descr

Black marble- the lustrous dark stone is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful materials used in the making of idols of Hindu gods and goddesses. Its sturdiness and mysterious shine bring the residents of the heavens to the simple abode of us humans. Though suitable for all kinds of statues and images, the manner in which black marble is used in this enchanting Sri Krishna idol is mesmerizing. Res

A seated Green Tara murti of substantial proportions. Queen of the Buddhist heavens, the epitome of karuna (compassion), metta (natural kindness), and shunyata (nothingness), She is a bodhisattva in the Mahayana tradition and a buddha in Vajrayana. On a petal-embossed throne, She sits, with the right foot cradled by a minuscule bloom in the foreground.n This is a signature aspect of the iconograph

Vermillion is a symbol of love, power, protection, and longevity; applied by all married women in their maang revealing their highest kind of beauty and virtue, for well being and prosperity of their husbands. This statue is a brilliant brass transform of one of the best sculptures from Khajuraho, sculpted at parshvanath temple, which is famous for its intrinsic artistry. This Brass statue is of

Durga-Mahishasurmardini, the Hindu mother goddess who battles the demonic forces and rescues her children is a popular deity not just in India, but in the rest of South Asia as well. Mingling with the local legends and beliefs, Maa Durga took new, magnificent forms, all the while remaining the protector mother. One such form of the great-goddess is known as Bathari Durga or Chandi in the island na

Garuda 'the devourer' is the mythical 'Lord of birds' in both the Hindu and Buddhist traditions. In the Hindu Puranic legends, Garuda is the son of Kashyapa and Vinata. He is said to have emerged, fully grown, from an egg, after incubating for five hundred years. Garuda has always been the sworn enemy of snakes and nagas. The archetypal legend of the enmity that exists between

Much has been written about Ganesha. As Hindu dharma's most adorable boy-deity, He has inspired countless artisans and painters, and poets across the subcontinent since time immemorial; and how could He not? So overcome by love are His devotees - and so widespread His followers - that His form is ubiquitous on the streets, inside homes, and across commercial establishments in India. This is b

Durga, identified as Adi Parashakti, is a principal and popular form of the Hindu Goddess. She is a goddess of war, the warrior form of Parvati, whose mythology centres around combating evils and demonic forces that threaten peace, prosperity, and Dharma, the power of good over evil. Devi Durga is also a fierce form of the protective mother Goddess, who unleashes her divine wrath against the wicke

A one-of-a-kind standing Buddha sculpture. Usually depicted as a seated figure nestled in the belly of a lotus, Siddhartha Gautama had a long past before He sat down at the foot of the Bodhi tree. He had spent years wandering the dense Himalayan foothills as an ascetic and the great Northern plains as a mendicant. The murti that you see on this page is of the wandering mendicant, seemingly just ar

Lord Soorya is revered as the prime source of life and nourishment by the peoples of the subcontinent. His many names include Vivasvat (Sanskrit word for 'brilliant'), Savitra ('nourisher'), and Lokachakshu ('eye of the realm'). Lore has it that He rides a chariot as brilliant as He is, drawn by no less than seven horses, across the skies each day in His bid to overpo

Shiv Parivar- The Resplendent Nandi At Their Feet Brass Statue

Icons depicting Shiva as the Lord of Dance (Nataraja) seem to have originated in the North in Gupta times, and developed in the South under the post-Gupta Vishnukundin dynasty early in the seventh century. One of the first southern sculptures is a colossal dancing figure carved upon the cliff face above the facade of a cave- temple at Mogallarajapuram on the Krishna river. The Pallavas took up the

This statue is that of a Samurai, the warrior class and self-sacrificing knights of Japan. In Japanese history the Samurai have played a variety of roles-commanders in the battlefield, assassins in the night, keepers of peace and that of aristocratic administrators. Here the Samurai is shown kneeling on his knees. This posture is known as Sonkyo-zo in Japanese. Both of his hands rest on his thighs

The primordial female energy, the invisible Shakti (power) that is the basis of all our actions, armed with the power of all the gods, becomes the great goddess, Durga. The slayer of Mahishaur- Mahishasurmardini and the mother of the universe, Jagadamba, Devi Durga is the female element at the peak of its beauty and ferocity. In the terms of Hindu esoteric philosophy, Maa Durga among many things i

Godhead of Hindu trinity deities and the most popular incarnation of Lord Vishnu- Lord Krishna or Murlimanohar is the leader, hero, protector, teacher, and a friend of all. He is the ruler, not only of religion and philosophy, but also mysticism, literature, and all aspects of Indian folklore. Here he stands on a flourishing carved multilayered leveled-up inverted lotus in his run-of-the-mill cros

Exceptionally ornate cast in brass, as lustrous and worked with as fine details as an image cast in gold: the same minuteness and precision as defining a piece at a goldsmith’s workshop, the statue represents Lord Krishna playing fully absorbed on his flute. Hearing the melody a cow is drawn to him and stands supporting him from behind. Halebid in the country’s southern part had a highly ornat

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The archaic period of art began to show interest in marble. Limestone sculpture is the art of creating, convincing realistic figure which produces natural and expressive movement. Such is the Saraswati sculpture. She is a marvel of knowledge, music, art, speech, and learning. The goddess is depicted as a beautiful woman clothed in pure white. She is garlanded in a golden throne which represents th

This youthful, valiant posture of Ganesha, the epitome of achievement and self-mastery, sits in Utkutakasana pose on a throne having a rectangular brick-like base with two white mice carved on it, facing opposite directions, holding a laddoo and a long back curved at the top, orange in color, bordered with thick gold color. The chaturbhuja Ganesha holds laddoos (his favorite sweet) and radish, as

The saptamatrka is a set of interesting deities from the Hindu pantheon. They are the maternal manifestations (‘matrikas’) of seven (‘sapta’) Hindu devas; and, as divine manifestations, are distinct from the wives and companions of those devas. Devi Varahi, whose murti you see on this page, is one of the saptamatrkas. She is the ashtabhujadhari (eight-armed) maternal manifestation of Lord

It is not just His childlike innocence that makes Ganesha one of the most popular deities of the Indian pantheon. The adorable form of a chubby little boy, His generosity with blessings and boons, and that unfailing love of laddoos - so much so that His iconography is incomplete without a bunch of the delectable Indian sweetmeat in the picture - endear Him to His devotees. The fateful Samudra-Mant

Lord Buddha hailed from a royal family, of the Shakya clan, hailing from the modern Indo-Nepal border. As a young man, he renounced his aristocratic heritage and embraced the life of an ascetic beggar. Buddha understood the fallacies of materialistic attachments. He taught to his followers that this attachment was the root of all suffering. It's notable however that Buddha never advocated com