" In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. " ( John 1:4 ) | " Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. "

Aventurine is a variety of quartz that is known for its unusual texture. It has a natural translucence coupled with a deep shimmer, termed aventurescence. The same is brought out to perfection in the longline Nataraja sculpture that you see on this page. It is a rich green color, which is the natural color of aventurine. A two-tiered plinth was comprising lotus blooms with the pistils against each

" Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. " ( John 14:6 ) | " And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. " ( Philippians 4:7 ) | " "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to com

The art-loving Hoysala dynasty of Karnataka was responsible for building a number of temples between the 10th the 14th centuries. They lent their name to a timeless standard of architecture, iconography, and aesthetics, a fine example of which could be seen on this page. It is a murti of Lord Vishnu with His wives, Bhudevi and Shridevi. The tall, slender form. The proportions between limb and crow

" Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. " ( John 14:6 ) | " And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. " ( Philippians 4:7 ) | " "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to com

" In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. " ( John 1:4 ) | " Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. "

An image of tender devotion. Lord Hanuman kneels on one knee upon the earth and gathers His hands in the supplicatory namaskaaram. His tail flourishes behind Him as He raises His head towards His beloved Lord Rama, His eyes brimming with the bhakti in His heart. Bhakti, or unconditional love, is the yogamaarga (‘maarga’ is Sanskrit for path) of Hanuman, an accomplished yogi of the finest order

" In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. " ( John 1:4 ) | " Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. "

Nara-Narayana, sages who were the incarnations of Bhagavan Vishnu were deep into austerities when Devas alarmed by their powers, sent celestial nymphs to disrupt their effort. Reacting to this nuisance, Narayana placed a lotus flower on his thigh, from which an unmatchable beauty emerged. She was Urvashi, the maiden whose beauty put to shame all the women of the Devlok. Among the many lessons from

" In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. " ( John 1:4 ) | " Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. "

Harihara is a lesser-known deity from the Hindu pantheon. He emerges from the amalgamation of Vishnu and Shiva, the preserver and destroyer of the trinity right after Brahma the creator. The sublime serenity of Vishnu meets the fierce stance of Shiva in this composite deity. A number of defining contrasts characterise this composition. Shiva's jaatmukuta to Vishnu's golden crown; Shiva&#

" Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. " ( John 14:6 ) | " And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. " ( Philippians 4:7 ) | " "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to com

" In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. " ( John 1:4 ) | " Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. "

According to the Siddhartha-Samhita, there are twenty-four avatars of Lord Vishnu. The Trimurti is a concept in Hinduism in which the cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction are personified by Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer or transformer. His four arms indicate his all-powerful and all-pervasive nature. The conch (Panchajanya) symbolizes that

" In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. " ( John 1:4 ) | " Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. "

" In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. " ( John 1:4 ) | " Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. "

" In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. " ( John 1:4 ) | " Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. "

Off the flute of the young and handsome Lord Venugopala, emerges divine music. The kind that perpetrated the woods and alleyways of Vrindavan not so long ago. The kind that uplifts and cleanses and elevates, makes space in the heart for bhakti. The desi cow that supports the figure of Lord Krishna in this composition is the very picture of bhakti. He looks up at his friend, the neck at a sharp ang

" Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. " ( John 14:6 ) | " And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. " ( Philippians 4:7 ) | " "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to com

The patron deity of Tirupati, India, Lord Venkateshvara is a manifestation of Vishnu. His name is derived from the nearby Mount Venkata (‘ishvara’ roughly translates to god). The crystal-sculpted murti that you see on this page is a replica of the idol at the Tirumala Venkateshvara Temple in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India. Considered one of the holiest sites in India, the temple dates back to

The Tibetan deity Chenrezig is the most untiring of the Bodhisattvas. With His thousand arms and thousand heads, He strives until space and time remains to free those of us in ihaloka (current realm of existence) of existential perpetuation and suffering. In this superb sculpture of the Lord Chenrezig, He is depicted in a rudimentary bhadrasana. The plenitude of limb and head is invisible to us ma

Of the many wives of Lord Krishna, the King of Dvaraka, Shrimati Rukmini was the first. Whilst engaged to His cousin Shishupala, promised to him by her envious brother Rukmi, the princess of Vidarbha beseeched Her Lord and love to come and take Her away. In carrying out her wishes, He made her the first queen of Dvaraka. In this superfine wooden sculpture, she is seen standing to His left, gazing

Lord Varaha, the third of Vishnu’s dashavataras, is the most instantly recognizable of the incarnations. The word ‘Varaha’ is Sanskrit for boar; and while some iconographies feature Varaha as a pig-shaped deity, the painting that you see on this page is of an anthropomorphic boar-headed human-bodied entity. Lord Varaha is possessed of eight arms (ashtabhujadhari) and clad in a flame-colored

The image of the Sheshashayi Vishnu induces great calm and stability in the mind of the devotee. Shesha is the name of the naga (snake) on whose coils the Lord lies in sleep, which is the Sanskrit word for 'end'; 'shayi' in Sanskrit stands for one who is lain down. It is the volatile moment between destruction and re-projection, the transitional state between two cycles of time

This exceptionally ornate brass statue is an example of highly balanced anatomy with delightfully distributed right and left – a strange symmetry with the center unable to contain its line and mincing to the figure’s overall rhythm: the navel and abdomen tilting to the left, and the little inflated right breast, to further right, represents Lord Ganesha in a posture as if commanding and assuri