December 19, 2019 I visited the National Museum of Delhi

Other resources for this museum:

- Their website - not bad for just about any museum in the world. Quite, quite good for an Indian museum. Even the web team has some game, although higher fidelity images would always be appreciated.

- Wikiwand's Site: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/National_Museum,_New_Delhi

A Note about all this info:

This is a whole lot of data annotation, because this museum's website is hardly searchable for what we do. I focused first on sorting by era/time period:

Where a kingdom has enough items to be interesting, it gets it's own section. If not, the items are grouped accordig to centuries.
I started at the earliest and moved down.
The Flicker site is seriously tagged - so if you really want to drill into something like a specific century, era, gender, interesting point - then go to the pictures of something interesting and start clicking on tags.

Early Civilization

Indus Map

The early civilizations of the world

I took the picture of the map because it was such a wonderful way of showing what was happening around the world and how the various civilizations evolved and changed. It takes some thinking, but it's so worth it.

The early Harappan civilization is pretty hard to research. They had some amazing technology, but the representations of humans in art isn't detailed enough to get good clothing information. That said, I was just astounded by the high quality of these seals, which are tiny - around the size of a US quarter!

Pashupati-Siva seal (top, by process of elimination)
Seal depicting man between two tigers (left)
Seal depicting pipal tree and Unicorn (right)

Turbaned Male Head

Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh

This was in the very early section - and a standout as both carving detail and being the earliest turban I think I've ever seen. I know very little about turbans, but thought I'd grab it.

Pillar showing Sutvanna
Kartaka Jakata Story

Shunga, 2nd century, BC
Bharhut, Madya Pradesh

There are other sides to this pillar. But what really stuck out to me was the cool turban this guy is wearing. There are other great details, too, in how he's dressed and riding his horse.

2nd Jakata Pillar

Shunga,
2nd century, BC
Bharhut, Madya Pradesh

Of the two pillars, the image shown here was the only picture I found of a woman, so far as I can tell. She has a slightly different headwear... possibly long hair, with a head wrap, where the men have a bun?

Walking around the pillar there are even more pictures of the male turban. Including a small person (? a child?) who is shown in profile.

Also there's an unmounted, but equipped horse.

Royal Couple with Attendants

Satavahana,
2nd Century BC
Pitalkhora, Maharashtra

It's a bit hard to tell here, whether the two most intact figures are both female, or a male (left) and female (right). The fact that the queen is the center person on the first row, and there's a partial king on the far right (who is missing a fair chunk of his body), is a sure thing. The challenge for me comes with the far left figure, who is holding a tray of something for the queen. It almost looks like a feather - which could mean an ornament... or a writing implement?

I took 4 pictures, because I thought both of these intact figures had some pretty awesome hair. It's fairly chunky and stylized (especially compared to the beautiful execution of the Worshippers of Buddha from the same era!), but there's enough detail here to suggest that both the queen, and her attendant have a rear/side bun, with patterned locks that could either be thick strands of hair or small braids. There's also a heavy band framing the face and going down the outside of the bun - hairband? part of the hair twist? There's certainly enough detail here to play with and make a judgement call about.

Kushana and Satavahana (2nd & 3rd century CE)

Vasanatasena

(Scene of a courtesan house)
Kushana, 2nd Century AD
Mathura, Uttar Pradesh

I'm definitely not an expert on the status of courtesans (or really any female) in the Kushan era. I was originally struck by her hair, and by the subjugation of her form. She definitely doesn't seem to be hanging out in a kneeling position because she's enjoying herself or in some form of rapture. She's either swooning or being compelled. Also, her dress and hair are relatively simplistic.

This isn't the only Vasantasena... I would bet that based on the ease of finding two, you could find many more.

This isn't a super Muslim era - we're WAY too early for that! This text suggests a lot of Buddhism and Zoroastrianism - and also that women DO have a place in trade and other public life, although it's also mentioned that they have their own apartments. From what I remember of other Kushan art - there's a whole lot of powerful masculinity in it.

(also - so help me... is that guy on the right picking his nose? He's spared some level of indignity by no longer having a nose, so I can't tell whether he is picking away or faking having a moustasche... )

Female Head

Kushana
2nd century AD
Mathura, Uttar Pradesh

The one thing here is the hair ornament, but also the grace and roundess of the head. Note how similar to the courtesan this head is.

Life of Buddha

Kushana
2nd Century AD - probably

The figures clothing is very simple, but I was struck at how these two interacted, and they are visible across multiple panels:

Kubera

(God of Wealth)
Kushana, 2nd century AD
Ahichchhatra, Uttar Pradesh

For me, this is an unusual image, but I think he's more common in the Northern sculptures. I am intruiged by his very different proportions, but I don't see him has a great inspiration for clothing.

Worshippers of Buddha

Satavahana,
3rd Century CE
Andhra Pradesh, South India

I focused in on three different figures - two women and a man. My amazement comes from the profound level of technical detail on the drapes and belts these figures wear. You can really feel the flow of the fabric and the weight of the belts. And you can see every textural detail in the belts. Taken as a broad picture, it wasn't that interesting - the heads and hands are in rough shape, and didn't excite me, so I chose to focus on the beauty.

Gupta (5th & 6th century CE)

Ganga

Gupta,
5th century AD
Ahichchhatra,
Uttar Pradesh

This series of photos, and the one of her sister river, Yamuna, are going to obsess me, and probably many of us, for quite some time. It's terribly hard to find an upper body covering of any sort. And this one is a new one on me - to be so explicitly covering some of the breast, while ?deliberately? leaving the nipples exposed is new to me. Even more tantalizing, the details of the various views make me think that the wrapping goes over the breasts, around the back, then under the breasts... although some parts of the sculpture make it seem like wrapping doesn't go to the back of the figure, but just over and under the breats. I don't favor that idea at the moment, because it seems physically improbable... but I want to play with this wrapping before saying with much certainty.

The Ganga figure also has some great hair - a braided crown of hair in the back and a diadem as jewelry perched on the back of the head.

Yamuna

Gupta,
5h century AD
Ahichchatra,
Uttar Pradesh

This is the sister of the Ganga statue, and similarly intruiging - so I took another series. If these two aren't on the same site, nigh - originally situated as balanced peers - then I'll eat my chapu. It's really delightful to have two angles for the same draping.

Saptamarika

Gupta,
6th century AD
Ahichchatra, Uttar Pradesh

This is yet another example, of the wrapping that is tantalizing me in the Ganga photographs. Certainly there's less here to work with, but it focuses the attention.

The Saptamarika is one of those 7 goddesses also seen in the 10th century sculpture - dressed there entirely differently as it's a different era.

Shiva Head

Ahichchatra,
Uttar Pradesh

I was so taken by the beauty of this, that I really thought it was female. Funny, since my museum companion and I were remarking on how often male gods look feminine in their beauty (even though hot Indian guys are NOT feminine!).

So, I suspect I thought this WAS a woman! But that doesn't take away from the articulation of the hair and how it's put together, although since this is Shiva, assume it's an aescetic's bun and not a fancy royal updo.

Parvati Head

Ahichchatra,
Uttar Pradesh

Another great set of hair details - this time a woman (albeit a goddess) - I would expect that Parvati and Shiva are from the same site and era, if not the same statue. Note how similar these features are.

Pratihara (8th-9th century CE)

Lintel Showing Haragauri

(Shiva and Gauri or Parvati)
Pratihara, 8th century AD
Abaneri, Rajasthan

The set featured here are the Shiva/Consort pair - but what I found more interesting are the figures that are elsewhere in the details. The two standing figure pairs have very clear draping, with the men in dhotis and ladies in sarongs with braided belts. Also the locks or dread locks and hair buns are lovely. The middle quadrant figures are musicians both men and women with different instruments and showing how these are played.

Saptamatrikas

(seven divine mothers)
Pratihara, 10th century
North India

This item is mostly about the unusual subject, and not the clothing. There are some variations in hairstyle, and the figure on the far right is an older woman. But the carving is not detailed enough for a great look at what they wear. More pictures...

Nataraja (presumably Shiva)

Pratihara, 9th century AD
Chittorgargh, Rajasthan

Kalyanasundaramurti

(wedding of Shiva and Parvati)
Pratihara, 9th century AD
Bharatpur, Rajasthan

I haven't seen a lot of Pratihara era sculptures, so this was new to me. Across all the pictures, the thing that really struck me was the gorgeous hair. Parvati's is quite 3D and I was able to grab a shot from above, showing all the marvelous ornaments attached to her hair. I would say the small, shallow lines are the locks of hair, while anything bigger is either a headband like diadem, or beads/ornaments wrapped around the hair before it was coiled into a bun. This would be an easy and satisfying thing to build into a hair piece.

Shiva's hair, OTOH, is one of the clearest examples of dreadlocks I've seen. Which makes sense as that is how he is described in poetry. It's a good baseline for dreadlock vs. combed hair on the two figures.

Lastly, I think Paravati may have a shawl draped loosely over her arms - I think that's what the wavy lines on her upper arm are.

Yamuna

(a river goddess)
8th Century
Madya Pradesh

It's rare to have this many ladies in a single item. We saw several other depictions of the river goddesses, who are attended by women, so I think this is more common in the North than in the South. But a really special aspect here is that among the ladies we see:

Two different hairstyles - a side bun and a braid
Two different drapes (at least) - the two edge ladies w a long sarong or pants drape, and the center is wearing something with a short edge.
A crown! Yamuna (the largest figure) is decidedly wearing a crown if you define a crown as a circle that goes all the way around the head.

Yogini Vrishanana

Pratihara, 10th century
Lokhari, Dist. Banda,
Uttar Pradesh

A ram headed woman is a new one for me. Yeah - not strange when you consider Ganesha, but where did this come from?

A great question. First - this particular art item actually had a really interesting history. With more on both the iconography and purpose of a Yogini as well as the return of this particular statue here.

This particular news story so dominates Google (given the relative rarity of this search term otherwise) - that I had trouble getting more details about this iconography and what it's context may be. Yogini statuary and prominence does seem to only be a few centuries in focus (6th to 10th) but that's the best I can do quickly.

Pala (8th-11th century CE)

Gaja Lakshmi

Pala, 8th century AD
Bihar

I took a video, because this is such a rare find. It's a Hindu goddess wearing what I normally think of as a Buddhist choli - because mostly we see this on Buddhist Tara statues. It's always a pleasure to find these, they are pretty rare, and since I was near the statue with no glass in the way, I walked slowly around her with my video camera on to give a sense of how it all fits together.

I also focused on her right shoulder, because there's a pattern or shaping to the trim on the choli that swoops down over the breast. In a modern context, I'd think this was a cut out of the blouse made to add interest, but it could also be a pattern made with the trim without removing any fabric. I feel pretty confident that the border of that swoosh is the same as the sleeves and the bottom hem of the choli.

All pictures.

Varaha (boar incarnation of Vishnu)

Pala, 10th century
Eastern India

Through 5 minutes of Internet research, I am so excited to have found this, so I could date the statue, having forgotten to capture the plaque. Because the Ganges is wearing a stanapatta... and I know we are always looking for upper body wear for ladies! Making it even more enticing, it's pretty wide - as if it's about the width of an Ace bandage, rather than ... a bandaid.

Also... call me crazy, but her boobs are doing what mine would do if you crunched them in a not-too-crushing band of fabric - they smoosh a little in a realistic way, rather than the perfect orbs we see with some other works.

Uma-Maheshvara

Pala, 11th century AD
Bihar

To me, these two are wonderfully intimate. Sometimes this pose, which happens with a bunch of gods & goddesses - looks forced, like an unfriendly husband and wife posing for their Christmas cards the week before announcing their divorce.

This one looks like an action shot of a happy pair. I particularly like the tender yet stylized mudra where Maheshvara's hand is under Uma's chin, and how Uma is gracefully relaxing into her husband.

But my interest in photographing this was also research-based - Uma's clothing shows some great patterning!

Vishnu

(preserver god)
Pala, 11th century
Eastern India

I will always have a weakness for Vishnu. This one is relatively simple in his dress. The part that most stuck out to me was his belt and the elegant draping underneath it. I believe that the left side shows a tie (of the belt?) while the right side shows some fabric tucked under the belt and hanging up over it. I supect that last is part of the underneath drape.

The chest also shows a drape underneath his sacred thread, going over the right shoulder. I can't tell if it's part of the lower body drape or not, but something swirly is happening on the shoulder.

Lastly - he's got two female attendants in full leg drapes, I would bet, based on the stripes of the swags, that these are dhoti pants drapes.

Vishnu

(preserver god)
Pala, 11th century
Bengal

This is a second Pala era Vishnu, in this case, the location is more specific. The draping between this and the previous Vishnu is quite similar, although there are some variations in the belt. More interesting on this one, are the two female attendants (1 and 2) that show even more sculptural detail and belts/draping that is identical to Vishnu's, although longer - including the upper body drape, which goes over the same shoulder always.

Chola (9th-13th century CE)

Shiva-Tripurantaka

Early Chola,
9th Century CE
South India

This isn't an iconography I'm used to seeing - Shiva seems so much more peaceful! What grabbed me that although his lower body garment is tiny, the fabric is so beautfifully embellished. Also this belt is a style I don't see much of.

Shiva Nataraja

Early Chola,
9th-10th Century CE
Tiruvarangulam, South India

The reason this caught my eye is that the Shiva Nataraja we are all used to is one where one leg is lifted in a kick, or as if he is in the process of leaping - it's usually very dynamic. In this case, he's got both feet touching the ground, and one heel is lifted - as if it's a mettu adavu. The text calls this "chatura-tandava" - and "tandava" is usually the more masculine form of dance according to texts about dance. Notice that the Ganga Nataraja statue is also in this pose - or something quite similar. I'm wondering if this is the start, and the pose evolves.

Dvarpala

Chola,
12th century
South India

This is where I proudly take my place as Indian Statuary Paparazzi, given the number of T&A shots of Indian statues I take. Thank god Indian Museums don't get htat much supervision, or I would definitely have been earmarked as a perv for inappropriate photos and excessive drooling.

In this case, i was trying to capture the very very Chola pattern of fabric on this gentleman's lower body drape.

A Dvarpala (or Dvarapala) is apparently a typical format that goes through the ages. But I hadn't actually heard of him before.

Venugopala

(Krishna playing the flute)
Late Chola, 12th Century AD
South India

At first glance, Krishna's clothes may seem to be a lot like the Pala Vishnu's, but they're different. The belt is a few different layers, all connected by a beast's head. There are ties coming out to the sides - we see this almost all the time on Hoysala art, which is the same time, different place. And instead of a tie over the left hip, and a drape over the right hip, there are two side ornaments that seem to be the same, and look quite a lot like feathers.

Another curiosity - he's got mid-calf ornaments. That just seems impossible...

Devi (Goddess)

Late Chola,
12th Century, CE
South India

For the goddess on the right, see the Vijayanagara era description of the same picture (below). I've left the same picture in both items so it's easy to find. The comparison between these two Devis is really interesting - we often say there's very little difference in the clothing - but in this case there's very little difference between almost any part of their adornment - to see the differences, you really have to dig at the details of the jewelry... or you have to backup and look at the piece as a work of art. The shape of the body and the face ARE quite different and show the different artistic styles of these two eras quite well. But the pose, the drape, the headdress - even the necklaces and belts are VERY similar.

The Chola goddess is on the left. The parts that really intrigue me:

The details of the belt - along with the swoops of fabric or ties connected to it. Comparing that to the Vijayanagara version - they are pretty much identical, although rendering is a little different (Chola is chunkier)
The fabric pattern - there are Fustat textiles out there showing exactly this circular pattern. Notice that it's an all-over stripey pattern. There's really no border here - this fabric would be equally useful as just about anything. Never say never - these stripes of circles could easily show up somewhere else --- but my recollection is that I see these the most with Chola era statues. But then also Chola era is one of the eras that really, really loved ornamented and very detailed statues.
Great hat/headress with plenty of lighting to show the little details. My eternal question - is this a goddess/statue thing, or did people really own and wear these?? (I want one so bad!)

Devi (Goddess)

Chola, 13th century CE,
South India

The interesting detail is the ornamentation of the belt. Chola belt closures are often interesting - this one is a double headed beast. Also typical, from what I see, is that the belt is layers and layers of belt wrapping around the waist, with a fair level of detailed embellishment on the strips.

Devi (Goddess)

Late Chola, 12-13th century CE,
South India

Yet another Devi! Note how similar the build and facial features of these goddesses are. Also - this one has the beautiful fabric pattern that some of the others do, as well as a lovely belt called a mehkala (girdle).

11th-13th Centuries

Worship of Shiva Linga

(phallic representation)
Chandella, 11th-12th century
Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh

The figures are relatively simplistic in their carving, but they are all human. None of these is a special attendant that I can tell or otherwise supernatural. And on the two ends of the strip, we can see musicians of different types, at least one dancer, and probably an armed guard (far left).

There's also a video of this, to get a sense of what looking at it really feels like.

Mohini

(female representation of Vishnu)
Western Chalukya,
12th Century
Gadag, Karnataka

First off, Chalukya items are REALLY hard to find. Next, this figure is really gorgeous. The first amazing thing is the details and complexity of the fabric on her legs - I got in there and took as many shots as I could. Next is her hair/earrings and the accessories in there. This is a side bun, which you'll also see in Hoysala sculptures, but the details of locks of hair is particularly fine here. She's doing a classic pose of lady with a mirror. Being up close and personal meant I could sneak around and get the hair from an odd angle without the mirror in the way. More pictures.

Martanda

(aspect of the
Sun God, Surya)
Gahadavala,
12th Century
Rajasthan

I admit, I can't remember having heard of this empire before. And having a Surya statue this late period is rather rare, at least in the empires I know more about... but the two things that caught my eye the most - he's got the same chest grid as the "Entrance Statue", and he may just be wearing shoes, as there is a small edge around the bottom of his feet.

King Prathivideva and
Queen Kelachchhadevi

Gahadavala,
12th century AD
Alwar, Rajasthan

This is a fairly unusual white stone - it's a different location, so it could be very common there.

Because of that, it's easy to see the patterns in the lower body drape of both the king and the queen. They are simple, but all over. Also the king's drape is similar to what I was seeing in Hoysala temples. It's the same time period, but a very different place and kingdom.

The queen has really beautiful but simple jewelry. It's a good example of how placement/length can really define a look for a given era. She's also got a nice clean hair part, a bun and a bindi. And the king has a beard.

The Huntress

Hoysala, 12th Century AD
Mysore

The huntress image is actually really common in the Hoysala temples. No two are alike, but this item is a very common inspiration. A likely theory is that she's tribal or at least common, and not a royal lady - although she's got a lot of jewelry.

I always like these, as it's clearly a woman dressed to be active, at the very least!

"Mysore" is what the plaque says, but I have my quibble with it - there are 5 or so temples that are driveable from Mysore. Not a one of them is *in* Mysore. It seems to me like they should be able to place this a little better. Some other websites list this as "Halebid" - which is one of those temples, and it's believable. But then these other websites also say 13th century (still plausible for the era)... more details would be helpful here. But the case of the Yogini points out - stuff comes to museums by many complicated paths.

I grabbed a detail of the skirt among my pics. It's always debatable what this super-thick fringy/furry stuff is. I tend to think "fur" - but the tassel-like tufts are always a conflict with that theory for me.

Putting that conundrum aside - the belt is also super-cool, and I'm mystified by the ornamented tail hanging between her legs. I want to believe that it's part of the hip belt, and hiding between her legs until it clears the skirt/fur thing.

Eastern Ganga (13th century AD)

Surya

Konark, 13th Century
Orissa

Wow, the Internet has gotten a lot better since my last deep museum annotation. This site totally helped me ID the time, place and subject for this statue. My big reason for photographing is the detailed gridwork carved into his chest. It seems original and I haven't seen this before. I'm not sure what it's supposed to be. Also - see his feet.

Siva on Bull

Eastern Ganga, 13th century AD
Konark, Orissa

OK, I admit it - I think I took a pic because of the penis. I can't remember seeing the lingam treated in this very anatomical way, expecially this late in history.

Vishnu with Consorts

Eastern Ganga, 13th century AD
Konark, Orissa

This one is relatively mundane. There's an upper body drape worn by each of the consorts, and I really like Vishnu's belt - which may be replicated more simply on the consorts. The carving is detailed enough that the jewelry is pretty clear. More pictures...

King Narsimha
as an archer

Eastern Ganga,
13th century AD
Konark, Orissa

There's a series here of Narasimha doing different things. The quality on these sculptures is top notch and there are a ton of great details. On this one, what really sticks out is the pattern on the lower body garment and the belt (details 1 and 2). It was really hard here to tell if the waistline details are a belt, or part of the draping. I'd say there is definitely a belt in there - but is it 3 narrow bands mirroring the thread on his chest or all of this detail?

King Narsimha on Swing

Eastern Ganga, 13th century AD
Konark, Orissa

#3 of Narasimha. Another case of wonderful detail on the lower border of his garment. It's not only on the most prominent leg, but also on the folded leg behind.

King Narsimha Discoursing

Eastern Ganga, 13th century AD
Konark, Orissa

#2 of Narasimha. His clothing is clean and simple. What sticks out is the beauty of the tail of his drape falling over the chair he's sitting on.

King Narsimha
Worshipping Jaganatha

Eastern Ganga,
13th century AD
Konark, Orissa

#4 of Narasimha. In this one he's got a wonderfully ornamented sword and I don't know that I've seen the presence of an idol before w/out it being the main topic. There seem to be two - the Jaganatha, and a Siva lingam.

Also - I could get in to see what happens on his back. It is only finished to about his spinal cord - so it's not complete, but I'm tantalized by those tassels, which are both on the shoulders and on the rear end.

And he's got a diadem, with clearly defined edges.

Late Medieval - 14th-16th Centuries

Devotee or Saint

Vijayanagara, 14th Century, CE
South India

This is an actual normal human, although the position of reference given to saints makes their status fairly important. It's really helpful to see the difference between a king or god and a devotee - as the devotees typically have far more simple adornment and clothing. In this case, he's got a moustache and a beard... as well as a very detailed belt. His belt is is a bit simpler than those of the goddesses we see in this ara. And VERY different from the gods - he's got a big circle of hair (at least I'm assuming that's hair) with some sort of decoration at the base of the bun.

Devi

Vijayanagara 15th Century, CE
South India

For the goddess on the left, see the Chola era description of the same picture.

The Vijayanagara goddess is on the right. The plaque says it really well:

Probably representing Parvati, this figure of Devi has her right hand in kataka-mudra and the left in lola-hasta. Her hair is tied into a tight bun (kesa-bandha) and there is a serrated siras-chakra behind her head. The eyeballs are clearly marked and the extended lobes of ears have holes. The waist is modelled with four unusually deep cross folds above the navel. The head ornaments consist of a tiara with a fillet.

The parts that really intrigue me:

The details of the belt - along with the swoops of fabric or ties connected to it.
The gorgous hair - I'm still trying to sort out what the siras-chaktra is... but the base is really gorgeous.
The thing between her legs - there's some metal connecting the legs - is this part of the drape? What is it??

Ardhanarisvara

Vijayanagara,
15th Century, CE
South India

The biggest reason to take pictures of this figure is the clarity of the fabric patterns on both sides of the lower body drape:

Vishnu's side - is alternating stripes of a vine pattern
Shiva's side - is a pattern suggesting a tiger pelt, as would be traditional

Also, the head is great in that it fuses Shiva's dreadlocks with a hat worn by Vishnu.

Virabhadra

(the terrific form of Shiva)
16th century, Vijayanagara
South India

"Terrific" as in terrifying, not as in "my first grade teacher was terrific". He's got fangs and a threatening sword.

I grabbed this because it's an unusual form of Shiva. I've probably seen it before, but not often, and Vijayanagara statues in good shape are hard to come by. Because this is Shiva, it's not much to go on for re-enactment, unless you are interested in being an ascetic.

Ranganatha

(representation of Vishnu lying on a bed)
Vijayanagara, 16th Century, CE
South India

I'm always a fan of Rangantha - this one is actually relatively small. One thing I notice with this image is that Vishnu Ranganatha is quite close to all the way reclined, while some impages are closer to half-upright, more as if they are leaning on an elbow. His placement - in the hallway, next to the stairs - is rather unusual as it's where one might naturally put a bench... so it feels as if Vishnu is taking a break, being very tired from seeing the museum.

Uma-Maheshvara

16th Century, CE
Nepal

A big reason to take this is that I'm always looking for comtemporary cultures to Lakshmi's Vijayanagara time period. Some key things I see:

Both figures have interesting palm markings - is this a god/goddess thing in Nepal, or reflection of the aesthetic that they might be wearing henna or red palm dye?
The draping on Uma is very nicely executed, this feels like a definite case of a fishtail, but also the she's got a shawl
Notice that these two just don't feel as imtimately connected as the other Uma-Maheshvara from the Pala era.

Sri-Devi

Nayaka,
17th Century CE
South India

Nayak stuff always captures my attention - it's the follow on of the Vijayanagara Empire, and yet it's look can be so much different. Both the belt and the under bust harness on this figure really intruigue me. The bust harness may just have a loop that goes around the neck, keeping the center of it at that heigh (like a halter would).

Definitely worth comparing to the Sri-Devi, as they are very much the same size and era.

Bhu-Devi

Nayaka,
17th Century CE
South India