ÿþ<html><head><link href="../../Styles/global.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet"> <link href="../../Images/favicon.ico" rel="shortcut icon" type="image/x-icon"><meta name="Keywords" content="Essay about images of Hindu deities from the Priya Paul collection.Religion, Hinduism" /><title>Temple in a Frame</title></head><body style="background-color:#996633" topMargin=0 ><div align="Center"> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="6" width="100%" style="background-color:#ffffcc"><tr><td style="background-color:#996633;font-size:12px;font-family:Verdana;" align="center"> <a href="http://www.tasveergharindia.net" style="text-decoration:none;color:#ffffcc;">Tasveer Ghar: A Digital Archive of South Asian Popular Visual Culture</a></td></tr><tr><td align="center" ><p><span style="color: rgb(153, 102, 51);"><strong><span style="font-size: 22px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Temple in a Frame</span></span></strong></span></p></td></tr><tr><td align="center" > <p><span style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">God Posters For and Of Worship</span></span></p></td></tr><tr><td> <table width="850" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" align="center"> <tbody> <tr> <td><span style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><table valign="middle"><tr><td> <a class="navigation-a" href=http://tasveergharindia.net/cmsdesk/viewgallery.aspx?id=81&EId=97&ImageId=4><img width="131" height="175" border="0" alt="" src="/cmsdesk/userfiles/image/richard/04.jpg" style="border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-bottom-style: none"/></a></td></tr><tr><td align="Center" > <a class="navigation-a" href=http://tasveergharindia.net/cmsdesk/viewgallery.aspx?id=81&EId=97&ImageId=4> Fig.04</a></td></tr></table></span></span></td> <td valign="top"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Ravi Varma&rsquo;s depiction of Mandodari has spawned no thematic offspring, but his Lakshmi has given birth to an abundance of children (<a href="http://tasveergharindia.net/cmsdesk/viewgallery.aspx?id=81&amp;EId=97&amp;ImageId=4">Fig. 04</a>).&nbsp; Generally, subsequent poster artists have not appropriated Varma&rsquo;s narrative scenes, but certain iconic designs of his have provided the starting point for prolific artistic adaptation.&nbsp; These themes include his renderings of standing Lakshmi, seated Sarasvati, and the family of Shiva.&nbsp; In the <a href="http://library.syr.edu/digital/guides/s/smith_poster.htm" target="_blank">Smith Poster Archive, housed at Syracuse University Library</a>, one finds more that a dozen later renderings of each of these themes by later artists, in each of which the fealty to Ravi Varma&rsquo;s original vision is unmistakable.</span></span></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <table width="850" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" align="center"> <tbody> <tr> <td><span style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Yet it would be a mistake to view the later posters as simple imitations.&nbsp; On the one hand, the artists and publishers are constrained in certain ways within a commercial religious art sphere.&nbsp; As the artist H. P. Singhal commented in an interview with Daniel Smith, everyone knows what the gods look like.&nbsp; If they want their works to be produced and purchased, the artists must observe certain visual and iconographic conventions in their renderings of the deities.&nbsp; (Some deities do seem to more susceptible than others to visual innovation, Ganesha most of all.)&nbsp; However, within this format of what &ldquo;everyone knows&rdquo; the gods look like, which was often enough first taught to &ldquo;everyone&rdquo; by Ravi Varma, there is still considerable room for artistic adaptation and imaginative re-envisioning.&nbsp; Much of this later adaptation moves in the direction of worship: artists have often modified their designs to create images more suitable to the purposes of worship.</span></span></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" align="center" style="width: 850px; height: 132px;"> <tbody> <tr> <td> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" border="0" align="right" style="width: 144px; height: 154px;"> <tbody> <tr> <td><table valign="middle"><tr><td> <a class="navigation-a" href=http://tasveergharindia.net/cmsdesk/viewgallery.aspx?id=81&EId=97&ImageId=5><img width="108" height="160" border="0" style="" alt="" src="/cmsdesk/userfiles/image/richard/05.jpg" style="border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-bottom-style: none"/></a></td></tr><tr><td align="Center" > <a class="navigation-a" href=http://tasveergharindia.net/cmsdesk/viewgallery.aspx?id=81&EId=97&ImageId=5> Fig.05</a></td></tr></table></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p><span style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">We can compare the initial design of Ravi Varma&rsquo;s Lakshmi with later treatments of the same goddess, in the same posture, to identify some of the ways poster artists have done this.&nbsp; The important South Indian artists C. Kondiah Raju and T. S. Subbiah, active in the 1960s and 1970s, also depict a four-armed Lakshmi standing in a large pick lotus located in a waterfall-fed pool, but they alter their presentation of the goddess in several significant respects (<a href="http://tasveergharindia.net/cmsdesk/viewgallery.aspx?id=81&amp;EId=97&amp;ImageId=5">Fig. 05</a>).</span></span><span style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">They have pushed Lakshmi farther forward in the image, so she occupies a much larger proportion of the frame.&nbsp; Indeed, here she seems to emerge from the natural setting rather than being simply a part of nature.&nbsp; Her eyes are much more pronounced, and her expression seems to beckon the viewer more directly.&nbsp; The artists have used brighter, more vivid colors, especially in the dress, crown, and ornaments of the goddess.&nbsp; And they have accentuated the items of iconographical significance to Lakshmi, such as the lotuses in her hands and the garland-holding elephant in the pool.</span></span></p> </td> <td width="1">&nbsp;</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" align="center" style="width: 850px; height: 225px;"> <tbody> <tr> <td width="1">&nbsp;</td> <td width="700"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"> </span></span> <table width="142" height="212" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" border="0" align="left"> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p><table valign="middle"><tr><td> <a class="navigation-a" href=http://tasveergharindia.net/cmsdesk/viewgallery.aspx?id=81&EId=97&ImageId=6><img width="140" height="210" border="0" alt="" src="/cmsdesk/userfiles/image/richard/06.jpg" style="border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-bottom-style: none"/></a></td></tr><tr><td align="Center" > <a class="navigation-a" href=http://tasveergharindia.net/cmsdesk/viewgallery.aspx?id=81&EId=97&ImageId=6> Fig.06</a></td></tr></table></p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p><span style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Kondiah Raju and Subbiah have also portrayed Lakshmi in seated posture, as have many other poster artists.&nbsp; In the Kondiah Raju-Subbiah rendering in the Priya Paul Collection, the artists emphasize Lakshmi&rsquo;s iconic features still more dramatically (<a href="http://tasveergharindia.net/cmsdesk/viewgallery.aspx?id=81&amp;EId=97&amp;ImageId=6">Fig. 06</a>). The natural landscape has been replaced by indeterminate blue background, and the goddess is now enhanced&nbsp;</span></span> <meta name="Title" content=""> <meta name="Keywords" content=""> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"> <meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"> <meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"> <link rel="File-List" href="file://localhost/Users/sumathi/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/msoclip1/01/clip_filelist.xml" /><span style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:DocumentProperties> <o:Template>Normal</o:Template> <o:Revision>0</o:Revision> <o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime> <o:Pages>1</o:Pages> <o:Words>9</o:Words> <o:Characters>52</o:Characters> <o:Lines>1</o:Lines> <o:Paragraphs>1</o:Paragraphs> <o:CharactersWithSpaces>63</o:CharactersWithSpaces> <o:Version>11.1282</o:Version> </o:DocumentProperties> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG /> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:DoNotShowRevisions /> <w:DoNotPrintRevisions /> <w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:UseMarginsForDrawingGridOrigin /> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--> </span></span><style type="text/css"></style><span style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"> <!--StartFragment-->by a halo of five or more circles of yellow, magenta, and pink. The elephant has disappeared, but here we see a stream of gold coins emerging from Lakshmi's right palm and collecting in a large green platter. This is the aspect of the goddess identified as Dhana Lakshmi, the bountiful goddess of wealth.</span></span><!--EndFragment--> </meta> </meta> </meta> </meta> </meta> </meta> </p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <table width="850" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" align="center"> <tbody> <tr> <td width="848"> <table width="146" height="194" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" border="0" align="right"> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p><table valign="middle"><tr><td> <a class="navigation-a" href=http://tasveergharindia.net/cmsdesk/viewgallery.aspx?id=81&EId=97&ImageId=7><img width="145" height="192" border="0" align="bottom" alt="" src="/cmsdesk/userfiles/image/richard/07.jpg" style="border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-bottom-style: none"/></a></td></tr><tr><td align="Center" > <a class="navigation-a" href=http://tasveergharindia.net/cmsdesk/viewgallery.aspx?id=81&EId=97&ImageId=7> Fig.07</a></td></tr></table></p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p><span style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Finally, one more image of a seated Lakshmi, by the still-active artist C. Vishnu, will take us still further from the vision of Ravi Varma into the realm of the iconic (<a href="http://tasveergharindia.net/cmsdesk/viewgallery.aspx?id=81&amp;EId=97&amp;ImageId=7">Fig. 07</a>).</span></span><span style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Vishnu brings back elephants, who shower the goddess in her aspect as Gaja Lakshmi, yet he also maintains the stream of wealth that Lakshmi dispenses.&nbsp; Her ornamentation here has reached an unsurpassable brilliance.&nbsp; Once again she gazes directly at the viewer, with accentuated open eyes and a hint of a generous smile.&nbsp; We should also observe what Vishnu has included below the great pink lotus-seat in front of Lakshmi.&nbsp; In addition to the coin-collection plate there is another gold platter filled with open coconut, bananas, grapes and other fruit suitable for offering as worship to a goddess.&nbsp; On each side of the plates, also resting on lotus pads, sit two oil lamps.&nbsp; The introduction of elements of puja into the image, usually in the lower portion of the poster appearing closer to the viewer, provides a mirroring within the frame of the worship that a pious owner would offer to the goddess in the icon-poster outside its frame.&nbsp; The iconic image points to its own intended purpose.</span></span></p> </td> <td valign="top">&nbsp;</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </td></tr></table><table style="width:850px"><tr><td></td><td align="right"><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;color:#ffffcc;">Select Page</span><select id="cmbPages" class="text-box" onchange="javascript:openPage();"> <option value="1">1</option><option value="2">2</option><option value="3">3</option><option value="4">4</option></select> <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript">function openPage(){ var i = document.getElementById('cmbPages').value; var path =window.location.pathname.substring(0,window.location.pathname.lastIndexOf('/')); if(i== 1) window.location.href = path + "/index.html"; else window.location.href = path + "/index_" + (i-1) +".html"; } var path =window.location.pathname.substring(window.location.pathname.lastIndexOf('/')+1); if (path.indexOf('_') == -1) document.getElementById('cmbPages').value=1; else {path = path.substring(path.lastIndexOf('_')+1); document.getElementById('cmbPages').value=parseInt(path)+1;} </script><a class="navigation-a" href="index.html" style="color:#ffffcc;">Previous</a> <a class="navigation-a" href="index_2.html" style="color:#ffffcc;">Next</a></td></tr></table><table style="width:100%;"><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a class="gallery-a" style="color:#ffffcc;" href=http://tasveergharindia.net/cmsdesk/viewgallery.aspx?id=81&EId=97&ImageId=1>Visit The Gallery</a> </td></tr><tr><td align="center" colspan="2"><a href="http://www.tasveergharindia.net" class="footer-a" style="color:#ffffcc;"> Tasveer Ghar Home </a>-<a href="http://www.tasveergharindia.net/frmessaylisting.aspx" class="footer-a" style="color:#ffffcc;"> Gallery </a>-<a href="http://tasveergharindia.net/cmsdesk/pages/copyright.html" class="footer-a" style="color:#ffffcc;"> Disclaimer on images </a>-<a href="http://tasveergharindia.net/cmsdesk/pages/Contact_Us.html" class="footer-a" style="color:#ffffcc;"> Contact us </a>-<a href="http://tasveergharindia.net/Unsubscriber.aspx" class="footer-a" style="color:#ffffcc;"> UnSubscriber </a></td></tr></table></div><script type="text/javascript">try {var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-8020078-1");pageTracker._trackPageview();} catch(err) {}</script> </body></html>