Hoysala

Hoysala, 12th-13th Century, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco

The Hoysala Empire consisted of the present day South Indian state of Karnataka and parts of the neighbouring states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The rulers of this dynasty were great patrons of the arts. Above the crown is a stylised depiction of the Kirtimukha, or Face of Glory, a fierce being created by Lord Shiva as a protection against evil.

Pradakshina

Pradakshina is the circumambulation of a sacred image or shrine, performed in a clockwise direction (the literal meaning is 'keeping the sacred object on your right'. The right side of the body is considered more auspicious in Hindu culture). It is a symbolic act indicating that the deity is the centre of the worshipper's life, and being.

Rajasthani Painting

Detail from a Rajasthani miniature painting currently on display in the exhibition Garden and Cosmos, at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

The word miniature, derived from the Latin minium, red lead, is a picture in an ancient or medieval illuminated manuscript; the simple decoration of the early codices having been miniated or delineated with that pigment. The generally small scale of the medieval pictures has led secondly to an etymological confusion of the term with minuteness and to its application to small paintings especially portrait miniatures, which did however grow from the same tradition and at least initially use similar techniques.

Ramananda Bandopadhyay

Oil Painting

Oil and applied Tanjore gems, Graham Brown, 2009.

Dancing

Painting by Graham Brown

medium: gouache and applied tanjore gemstones on board.

Riding on a lion

South Indian bronze sculpture.

Image source - Lotus sculpture.

.

In this murthy (image), Shri Ganesha's legs are like those of a seated baby. In his hands He is holding an elephant goad, noose, modak (sweet), and His right tusk, which He uses as a pen. He is also holding something with His trunk, which could be a fruit, conch shell or pot of amrut.

.

Happy Shri Ganesha Puja!