Mathura: Female figure, probably Camunda
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Photographer: Arthur Llewellyn Basham
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One goddess figure known in numerous forms as the 'Universal Power' of living things is Camunda (also known as Durga, Kali, Uma, Parvati, Gauri, Maimavati, and Vindhyavasni), who has her living counterpart in every woman, Her popularity in folk art has existed from ancient times where her physical symbol was the yani: female counterpart of the lingam, Worship of Camunda was very widespread in India, and we find many representations of the goddess overcoming the forces of evil, which indicate that her cult had an extensive legendary background, The example in our slide of a Camunda image is a crude one, It bears strong kinship to folk-art sculpture in style and is not a part of the royal Kushan creations, The figure is executed in low relief, not sharply defined at any point, and makes strong use of abstract forms to suggest more naturalistic ones: for example, the harsh T-formation of the eyebrows and nose, -- Mathura, Curzon Museum,
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Archives Series
Basham Collection
Date created
circa 1970s
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This image is provided for research purposes only and must not be reproduced without the prior permission of the Archives Program, Australian National University.
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