The beauteous Devi Lakshmi is seated on a wide-set throne. In keeping with traditional Hindu iconography, Her legs are gathered in lalitasana and Her throne is engraved with lotus petals. The foot of the dangling leg, compact and delicately shaped as it is, grazes the belly of a flattened lotus placed beneath the throne. In Her singular iconography, the wife of Lord Vishnu is depicted with four arms - She is the chaturbhujadharini - with full-bloom lotuses in both posterior hands, a lotus bud in the anterior left, and the anterior right raised in gentle but powerful blessing.
The work of art that you see on this page is a pattachitra composition, a fine example of the folk art of Odisha. It derives its name from patta, a locally produced canvas, which in this case has been woven from homegrown tussar silk. In fact, it is the nature of the canvas that lends to the work its washed-out gold colour. Thick, black lines against the same define the silhouette of Lakshmi, the superb contours of Her form, the composure of Her divine countenance, and the glamour of Her gorgeous shringar.
The distinguishing aspect of this Devi Lakshmi is the sheer level of detail with which it has been executed. Zoom in on the slender crown sitting on Her head and the plumage of the mythical cygnine creatures on either side of Her, the framing structures along the upper half of the canvas and the stylised lion-shaped legs of Her throne. One cannot go wrong with a work of art that has been infused with so much life and symmetry and divinity.
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