KALI ON SIVA/SAVA (#2520/5)

OPAQUE WATERCOLOR/GILT ON PAPER

KANGRA SCHOOL

CIRCA 1800

20 cm x 28 cm / 8.0” x 11”

EXHIBITED:

Lycoming College Gallery; Williamsport, Pennsylvania 1981

DESCRIPTION:  In this painting , Sakti is Kali, the Dark Goddess, the primordial power. Siva the corpse (Sava), lies supine on the funeral pyre in the cremation ground. The moment Kali, stepping lightly, lowers her raised foot and touches his chest, the corpse stirs; instilled with new life, he is Siva the beauteous god. Kali's four hands hold a lotus, shears, sword and severed head and wears a cotton doti, garland with human heads, golden arm bands and bracelets. In the near background two jackals and two attendants wait in anticipation.