Forms of the Goddess Lajja Gauri in Indian Art

by Carol Radcliffe Bolon

The artists creating images of Lajja Gauri drew on various ancient symbols of fortune, fertility, and life-force to communicate her power through their rich heritage of meanings. Because there are no texts to explain the figure, the study proceeds from the basis of the objects to derive their meaning. Carol Bolon charts the changes in the goddess`s form over a period of more than four centuries, including its possible adoption from tribal worship into Hindu temples, and brings a new appreciation of Lajja Gauri`s rich symbolic meaning and cultural context. CAROL RADCLIFFE BOLON is Assistant Curator of South and Southeast Asian Art at the Arthur M. Sackler GAllery and the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. She is the co-editor of The Nature of Frank Lloyd Wright. "We welcome this excellent monograph on Lajja Gauri." THE ADYAR LIBRARY BULLETIN