Lord Hanuman with five faces staring in different directions is the most magnificent, powerful, and revered form. He assumed this form when he was assigned with the responsibility of protecting Lord Ram’s life. According to the legend, Ravana asked one of his brothers, Mahiravana (King of the netherworld) to kidnap Lord Rama and Lakshman. The demon Mahiravana’s soul rested in five lamps and to

The image of the gently reclining Ganesha wooden statue endears Him to us all. The chubby, elephant-headed son of Shiva and Parvati is widely revered for His childlike appeal. The twin qualities of innocence and wisdom pour forth from His every iconography, including and especially the one that you see on this page. On a bed of lotus petals of varying colors, reclines the Lord. A bolster under His

Goddess Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth, fortune, prosperity, and luxury and Lord Ganesha is the remover of obstacles and the patron of arts and sciences. These deities are mostly worshipped together as there is no wealth without prosperity and no money without wisdom. This superfine sculpture hand-carved with Kadam Wood of Rajasthan shows Goddess Lakshmi towards the right of Ganesha, signifying

Nataraja is the most popular representation of the Hindu God Shiva. In Sanskrit, Nata means dance and raja means Lord. Shiva, therefore, is the 'King of Dancers'. To understand the concept of Nataraja we have to understand the idea of dance itself. Like yoga, dance induces trance, ecstasy, and the experience of the divine. In India consequently, dance has flourished with the terrific aus

The five (‘pancha’) faces (‘mukha’) of Panchamukha Hanuman stand for the five means of worship that the great yogi extended to Lord Rama: naman, smaran, keerthanam, yacham, and arpanam. The faces are (from left to right) Lakshmi Varaha, Mahaveera Garuda, Anjaneya, Karala Ugraveera Narasimha, and Hayagriva. The Panchamukha on this page is possessed of eight arms (the ashtabhujadhari). The m

The emergence of goddess Durga marked the power of feminism; she was created by the cosmic powers of the trinity and other gods to defeat the Buffalo demon Mahishasura. Goddess Durga is revered as Durga Nashini, which translates as ‘the one who eliminates suffering’, as she is the Shakti or Mother goddess in Hinduism. She is sculpted here with a single piece of white marble in lalitasana postu

Lord Shiva forms the part of the cosmic trinity and holds the position of being the destroyer of the impurities and evils prevailing in the universe. Lord Shiva is the darkness, which is always there. Light is a limited happening as it will eventually lose its ability, but darkness is eternal, it is everywhere, just like Lord Shiva. This Lord Shiva wooden sculpture depicts the supreme being as the

Amalgamated in beautiful smoky grey and gold colors, Nataraja, while dancing in ecstasy rules over his conscious fearful yet caring nature. This rare Nataraja posture triumphs joyfully on the demon dwarf Apasmara, who embodies ignorances of the world and here sits with his implements in his hands on a three-layered heightened pedestal carved in mesmerizing highlighted lotus petals. Nataraja Bra

A standing Ganesha is one of the most rarely seen postures of Ganesha sculptures. Here he stands diligently on a thick pedestal having a green grassy platform with the mouse towards his left foot, busy eating modak. This sculpture is chiseled out of a single piece of white translucent marble that allows light to enter and produce a soft glow while retaining its high polish. Have a look at the beau

According to Buddhism, Tara is one of the most important figures, who is known for being the female Bodhisattva(Buddha to be) in Mahayana Buddhism, and as a female Buddha in Vajrayana Buddhism. As one of the three deities of long life, White Tara (Saraswati) is associated with perpetuity. Therefore, she prevents illness and thereby helps to bring about a long life. She embodies the motivation to b

A delicate Radha-Krishna ensemble to fill your home or office with divine amorous cheer. Made with pure manual skill and a great deal of devotion, these manifest themselves in the fine lines of the silhouette and the expressive composure of both faces. The murtis are discrete, which means that they are on separate plinths. Pristine complexion, fine eyes. Thick blonde curls. Tall, jewel-encrusted c

The tale of Pancamukha Hanuman from Ramayana tells of the monkey god’s battle with the King of Patala, Ahiravana, and his five celestial lamps. Hidden within the flames of these lamps, diverging away in five different directions, lay the soul of the daitya king. To kill Ahiravana the flames all needed to be extinguished at the same time. Lord Hanuman spouted five faces, each with a distinct pers

The archaic period of art began to show interest in marble. Limestone sculpture is the art of creating, convincing realistic figure which produces natural and expressive movement. Such is the Saraswati sculpture. She is a marvel of knowledge, music, art, speech, and learning. The goddess is depicted as a beautiful woman clothed in pure white. She is garlanded in a golden throne which represents th

Lord Shiva, the auspicious one, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism and is also known as Mahadeva or the Supreme God. He is known for his attributes of being benign, the Beneficient, and the Lord and God. He possesses greater powers than most Hindu Gods and has incredible endurance and remarkable speed due to the increased reflexes from his four arms and can even manipulate power but not a

This youthful, valiant posture of Ganesha, the epitome of achievement and self-mastery, sits in Utkutakasana pose on a throne having a rectangular brick-like base with two white mice carved on it, facing opposite directions, holding a laddoo and a long back curved at the top, orange in color, bordered with thick gold color. The chaturbhuja Ganesha holds laddoos (his favorite sweet) and radish, as

Nataraja is the most popular representation of the Hindu God Shiva. In Sanskrit, Nata means dance and raja means Lord. Shiva therefore is the 'King of Dancers'. To understand the concept of Nataraja we have to understand the idea of dance itself. Like yoga, dance induces trance, ecstasy and the experience of the divine. In India consequently, dance has flourished side by side with the te

Beneath a Kirtimukham prabhavali (aureole), stands the gentle Lord Ganesha. The superb proportions of Kirtimukham contrast sharply with the chubby child’s form of the standing Ganesha idol. So does the diametric variation in the expressions - the former is a paragon of all-consuming ferocity, while the latter is widely worshipped for its childlike gentleness. The Lord Ganesha statue that you see

The panchamukha-roopa is common to many deities in the Hindu pantheon. The word ‘panchamukha’ is a portmanteau of ‘pancha’, which means five, and ‘mukha’, which means face. The murti that you see on this page is of the Panchamukha Vinayaka (another name for Ganesha). Each of the five faces stands for the yogic koshas or layers of existence. It is a murti of Vengai wood, derived from a

A seated Green Tara murti of substantial proportions. Queen of the Buddhist heavens, the epitome of karuna (compassion), metta (natural kindness), and shunyata (nothingness), She is a bodhisattva in the Mahayana tradition and a buddha in Vajrayana. On a petal-embossed throne, She sits, with the right foot cradled by a minuscule bloom in the foreground.n This is a signature aspect of the iconograph

Shiva literally means "the auspicious one". In Hinduism, he is known as the Destroyer within the Trimurti, the Hindu trinity, that includes Brahma and Vishnu. In Shaivism tradition, Shiva is one of the supreme beings who creates, protects, and transforms the universe. One of his titles, Nataraja, is a depiction of Lord Shiva as the divine dancer. His dance form is called Tandavam or Nada

The serene Lakshmi Devi is seated in lalitasana. Her throne is a gigantic lotus in full bloom. At the base of this lotus-shaped throne is another lotus bloom of more realistic proportions. On its belly cradles the foot of Laxmi Mata’s pendant limb. The posterior of Her four arms bear lotuses, while Her anterior hands are in the mudras of aashirvada (blessing) and Abhaya (fearlessness). This is t

A many-layered Ganesha idol, designed for the finest home or office temple. A traditional-style plinth carved with elongated lotus petals. Featuring a simple floral structure down the frontal midline. The mouse vahana of gigantic proportions, on all four on its surface. It is craning its head back to glance at the Lord Ganesha statue on its back. This Ganesha murti depicts the chaturbhujadhari Lor

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

A manifestation of Chinese princess Kongjo and an important figure in Buddhism, White Tara is a female Boddhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism, also known as the ‘Mother of Liberation’. She is associated with longevity and counteracts illness, thereby bringing about a long life. As shown here, White Tara is always depicted as sitting in a lotus posture with the soles of her feet pointing upwards, he

In Sanskrit, Nata means dance and raja means Lord. There is an interesting legend behind the conception of Shiva as Nataraja: In a dense forest in South India, there dwelt multitudes of heretical sages. Thither proceeded Shiva to confute them, accompanied by Vishnu disguised as a beautiful woman. The sages were at first led to violent dispute amongst themselves, but their anger was soon directed a