c. 1965-1985

The Goddess Parvati Honors Her Husband, Shiva

Indian, active 20th to 21st century

The great mother goddess Parvati has many aspects, some benevolent, others terrifying. In her heroic, martial form she is Durga, the slayer of demons. In this painting, however, she is the obedient and subservient wife of the resplendent, snake-covered god Shiva. Represented in comparatively smaller scale, Parvati stands in strict profile, facing her husband and holding a lotus in an outstretched hand. The composition abounds with stylized animals, fruit, and vegetation-almost hiding the artist's name, written in Devanagiri script at lower left. Mahasundari Devi, an accomplished artist who began working on paper in the mid-1960s, has been instrumental in fostering women's crafts in Madhubani district. She and the rest of the women in her family continue to make paintings for an increasingly global market.