id:			149418
accession number:	1978.70
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1978.70
updated:		2023-08-23 22:37:03.354000

Varahi, c. 1300s. Nepal, 14th century. Bronze; overall: 21 cm (8 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund 1978.70

title:				Varahi
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			c. 1300s
creation date earliest:		1295
creation date latest:		1405
current location:		237 Himalayan
creditline:			Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund
copyright:			

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culture:	Nepal, 14th century
technique:	bronze
department:	Indian and Southeast Asian Art
collection:	Nepalese Art
type:		Sculpture
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Overall: 21 cm (8 1/4 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Year in Review: 1978
	opening date:   1979-02-13T05:00:00
	<i>Year in Review: 1978</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 13-March 18, 1979).

	title:		Sacred India
	opening date:   1985-11-05T05:00:00
	<i>Sacred India</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 5, 1985-January 12, 1986).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

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fun fact:


digital description:


wall description:
This Hindu goddess has the body of a young mother and the head of a female boar, which is the meaning of the Sanskrit word varahi, with the third eye of true knowledge. This sculpture was one of a set of seven goddesses associated with worship of the Hindu god Shiva or the mother goddess. The objects in three of her four hands reference the countercultural tantric Hindu practices of drinking revolting liquids from a bowl made from a skull. The fish implies the consumption of illicit food, and the snake pertains to the noose that keeps one bound in fear that leads to inevitable death. In tantric Hindu rituals, this goddess would aid the practitioners in overcoming their fears that keep them attached to ordinary life in the world, instead of reaching the liberated state of union with the creator.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	Pal, Pratapaditya. "Two Gilt-Copper Survivors of the 1934 Earthquake and Some Related Objects from Nepal." Berliner indologische Studien, vol. 23 (2017): pp. 265-290
	page number: 	pp. 265-290
	url:		

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1978.70/1978.70_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1978.70/1978.70_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1978.70/1978.70_full.tif