Gauri with lingam

Dimensions: 19cm high, 14cm wide
Code: CLAY 2421

Vintage terracotta bommai of Gauri (an avatar of the goddess Parvati) worshipping a lingam from Tamil Nadu from the 1940s/50s. A lingam sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or an iconic representation of the deity Shiva. Shiva is one of the principal deities of Hinduism and is the protector, destroyer and regenerator of the universe and all life. Gauri, who is known to be gentle, and charming is the goddess of fertility, love, beauty and devotion and is worshipped as the protectress of women. Parvati is the Mother Goddess in Hinduism, and Lord Shiva’s wife. Here, she is seen kneeling beside the lingam worshipping Shiva. Both she and the lingam are wearing flower garlands. Gauri is adorned with a gold-coloured crown and other jewellery. On the lingam are three white horizontal lines with a red dot in the centre; this is a tripundra (the symbol of Shiva which is applied with holy ash in three horizontal lines, and a central red dot). Above the lingam is the hood of a protective snake cobra and behind this is a stylised banyan tree.

Bommai are figures used for the display of dolls and figurines that takes place in South India during the Hindu festival of Navaratri, which is a nine-day festival celebrating the victory of good over evil. In Southern India the bommai are presented in the home on tier shelves, and friends and neighbours are invited to visit to view the displays and exchange gifts and sweets. There is evidence of this tradition dating back to the fourteenth century. Today, the exhibits are typically thematic, narrating a legend from a Hindu text or a secular cultural issue. The dolls are collected and passed on from one generation to another as an heirloom and new figures are added each year. These terracotta figures are also known as Kolu, Gombe Habba, Bommai Kolu, Bommalu Kolueru or Bommala Koluvu.