Kamala And Bhairavi - Set of 2 - Bengal School of Art - Canvas Gallery Wraps - (18 x 12 inches)each
Kamala And Bhairavi are one of the ten Mahavidyas or great manifestations of Devi (deified aspects of the goddess that range from pacific to ferocious).
The image of Kamala has our elephants lustrate the goddess. She holds lotuses in her two left hands while her upper right is in the abhaya mudra (reassurance) and her lower right is in the varada mudra (boon giving). She sits on a lotus and in fact, her name means “she of the lotus”, an epithet of the goddess Lakshmi. Kamala is a bringer of prosperity, fertility and luck, all characteristics she shares with Lakshmi, a goddess that is also lustrated by elephants.
Devi Bhairavi holds a book in her lower left hand and a mala in her upper right (here hidden within a small bag that covers the end of her hand). The garland of skulls around her neck hints at the terrible nature of this goddess who is the female aspect of Bhairava, a ferocious form of Shiva. Here she is shown as a calm and beautiful woman in a mountain landscape. The demeanor of the figure speaks to her dual role as the peaceful Parvati, while her weapons allude to her terrible aspect. Bhairavi is credited with slaying the demons Sumbha and Nishumbha.
The original Chromolithographic print on paper was published in 1885 in Calcutta Art Studio, BowBazar and is in the style of the Bengal School of Art.