Glimmering with the regality and powers of Devi Lakshmi, this Tanjore painting with 24 karat gold and a fine wooden frame is a representation of the great Hindu mother goddess in her Gaja-Lakshmi roopa (form), one of the earliest iconographies of Sri-Lakshmi. While in her usual depictions, the goddess is seated on a lotus flower and flanked by two elephants, this rare and divine Tanjore painting visualizes her as the supreme queen mother, seated on the Gaja-raja (king of elephants), who offers a bunch of Kamala (pink lotuses) to the goddess who is the abode of all kingly virtues and riches of the universe.
The goddess Lakshmi Tanjore painting has the Devi housed in a royal palace, following the idiom of the traditional Tanjore paintings, which are located in the interiors of arching and imposing citadels. The arch and pillars of the hall in which Maa Lakshmi is enthroned are decorated with glistening gold leaves, placed over detailed auspicious motifs and red and green glass pieces. In the center of the hall is goddess Gaja-Lakshmi, in a rich red sari, a high-raising Kiritamukuta crown, and glistening gold ornaments. With a mindful use of dark and light shades on Devi’s attire, the artist has delineated its soft folds, highlighting the loveliness of her form. Goddess Lakshmi is in her Chaturbhuja (four-armed) form, elegantly holding two Kamala (pink lotuses) in her hands, which represent purity and the beginning of creation. Devi’s primary right hand is raised in the gesture of fearlessness or Abhaya-mudra, while her left-hand holds a golden pot, full of riches and is in the gesture of bestowing boons (Varada-mudra).
The Gaja or elephant crouching pleasantly is adorned with ornaments wreathed with gold. The elephant in Indian tradition is the mount of kings and royals, who in several regions such as Orissa proudly took the title “Gajapati” (Lord of Elephants), to mark their imperial strength and capability to maintain large forces of elephants. Forever worshipped and surrounded by these majestic animals, the goddess Lakshmi or Gajalakshmi represents the opulence and royalty that are desired by kings. A mystical saffron-hued aura fills the space behind the divine mother, whose face enlivened by beautiful features seems to be the source of the solar resplendence.
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