PARVATI GODDESS OF LOVE

Art in India is never removed from life, intimately tied as it is to religion, aesthetics and utility. A walk into a temple or a place of worship becomes an experience at many levels, tactile, olfactory, sensory and visual, spiritual and religious. Taking any of the elements individually, is thus a part experience at best. In this book, the author brings to the reader the Goddess Parvati, the Female Principle, consort of the God Shiva, lover, mother, provider, embodiment of beauty. In showing her in each of her manifestations, he tries to create the ambience that would normally exist around her to show her in her true glory. The images in stone come mostly from the classical period in North India. The dominant theme in the stone sculptures is the amorousness of Shiva and Parvati, and images of the generic term Uma-Maheshvara, half female-half male. Chola bronze images are also included, as are images painted on glass, later miniature paintings and folk Kalighat paintings from Bengal.