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Brahma and Brahmani
Brahma and Brahmani

Brahma and Brahmani

Dateca. 11th century
Label TextBrahma the Creator is one of the gods that make up the Hindu trimurti, or trinity. He was born out of Vishnu's navel in the cosmic ocean at the dawn of creation. His role is that of life-giver and creator of the world. Brahma is often shown with a beard, a reference to time and age, for the Hindu concept of time is measured in great cycles of creation and destruction, which are the days and nights of Brahma. These cycles are part of an eternal process that keeps the universe in constant flux. Seated with his consort, Brahmani, and surrounded by a host of attendants, the divine couple is a recurrent theme in Indian art, symbolizing the union of opposites, and may also be a metaphor for an individual's desire to join with the divine.
Object number70.63
Credit LineEugene Fuller Memorial Collection
Dimensions30 7/8 x 23 1/8 x 6 3/4 in. (78.5 x 58.7 x 17.2 cm)
MediumSandstone
Yaki Surasundari
Indian
ca. 11th century
Object number: 63.36
Siva with attendants
Indian
11th-12th century
Object number: 69.15
Female Divinity
Indian
late 6th century
Object number: 69.23
Head of Vaishnavait deity
Indian
5th century
Object number: 64.22
Vishnu as the boar Varaha
Indian
ca. 11th century
Object number: 69.43
Celestial Beauty (Surasundari)
Indian
10th-12th century
Object number: 44.54
Krishna Playing Flute
Indian
14th - 18th century
Object number: 44.57
head
Indian
500-599
Object number: SC93.27
head
Indian
500-599
Object number: SC93.28
Head of a Hindu deity, either Vishnu or Surya
Indian
7th century
Object number: 67.107
Siva killing the elephant demon
Indian
ca. 10th century
Object number: 68.119
Male head - attendant or Bodhisattva?
Indian
2nd-3rd century
Object number: 64.114