Sculpture

Gajalakshmi is one of the oldest and most widespread deities of India. She is one of the numerous manifestations of the Hindu goddess of luck, Shri or Lakshmi, wife of Vishnu. She is considered the goddess of prosperity, beauty and harmony, fertility and vegetation and is the protector of married women. She is still worshipped today; her statuettes are mainly found above the entrances of houses and temples. The small sculpture set in gold and red displays Gajalakshmi's typical attributes: the four-armed goddess sits in a lotus position on a lotus throne rising from the water. In her raised upper hands she holds lotus buds, in her lower right hand she holds the prayer ring, in her left hand a bael fruit (aegle marmelos), which is used in Ayurvedic medicine because of its beneficial, revitalising properties. The richly decorated, regal figure is wearing a crown, a parasol of honour arches above her. It is flanked by two servants with flywhisks. They stand in front of columns that open up into lotus flowers, on the top of which are elephants (Sanskrit: gaja) that pour water from round vessels onto the goddess. The gajalakshmi iconography depicted here, with the lotus as a symbol of purity and perfection and the elephant pouring water as a symbol of fertility, has changed little over two thousand years. Author: Eva Gerhards, Translation: Timothy Connell