Untitled (Tripura Sundari)

Paintings of deities served a functional purpose for the devout—as illustrations of religious hymns which described the Hindu gods, making them perfect accompaniments for meditation. This artwork depicting Rajeshwari, the female embodiment of Wisdom, is one such example. The goddess sits on a lotus that ascends from the naval of a supine Shiva, one of the most important Hindu deities, who in turn lies on a pedestal supported on four sides by Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva—the “Trimurti” or the holy trinity of Hindu mythology who are responsible for the creation, preservation and destruction of the cosmos. The fourth figure in such an iconographical representation of Rajeshwari is usually Rudra, the Hindu sun god; but here he has been replaced by the patron who commissioned the picture. This was a common patronage practice of the time when commissioning patrons were placed in the company of gods and goddesses.