Ganga (personification of the river Ganges) with attendants

ca. late 8th century

In India, all rivers are sacred places, but some hold particular meaning. Holiest among them are the Ganges (Ganga) and the Jumna (Yamuna), which run from the Himalayas southeast to the Bay of Bengal. On many temples, Ganga and Yamuna take the form of goddesses carved on either side of the doorway into the sanctum. There they symbolically purify and bless worshippers.

This fragment holds Ganga, at the far right, sheltered by an inverted lotus flower. She and her attendants stand on the waving tail of a makara, her mythical sea creature vehicle. (Its foot and body can just be seen in the lower right.) The praying man with cobra hoods above Ganga’s head is a naga, a semidivine serpent often associated with water. He is part of a row of nagas with interwoven tails that originally framed the doorway.

Sandstone

17 x 11 x 5 in. (43.18 x 27.94 x 12.7 cm)

Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection

65.123

Now on view at the Asian Art Museum

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "Luminous: The Art of Asia", October 13, 2011 - January 8, 2012

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Boundless: Stories of Asian Art, Feb. 8, 2020 - ongoing.

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