[SHIVA’S BLESSING]

23 x 24-1/2” in [58.4 x 62.2 cm]

India, unsigned, date unknown, polychrome gouache on board

verso: stamped “Ideal Picture Product, No. 124-C, Ammankoilpatti, Sivakasi”

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Complex representation of the god Shiva, bestowing his blessings on the viewer, and surrounded by allegories. The god is represented from the shoulders and above, raising a hand towards the observer in which the word ‘OM’ (of profound spiritual significance in Hinduism) is inscribed. From his hair, in which the crescent moon rests, a stream of water flows that becomes the seven sacred rivers of India, starting from the Ganges on the top, overflowing in turn to form the Yamuna, Godavari, Saraswati, Narmada, Sindhu and Kaveri rivers, depicted as ornate jars of water. From the spilled water of these jars, a long line of ascetics flows in turn, paying homage to a group of five lingas (aniconic representations of Shiva himself, perhaps referencing here the Pancha Bhoota Sthalam or lingas of the five classical elements in Indian cosmology: earth, water, fire, air, and space). On top of a hill behind which flows this unending line of ascetics, Shiva is also represented as the first ascetic or yogi, meditating and performing rites on a linga while his back rests against the trishula or trident, his foremost weapon. On the background, and behind the halo that irradiates from Shiva’s head, the Himalayas and the night sky are visible. The god is believed to have his residence in mount Kailash, one of the Himalayan mountains.

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‘Calendar Art’ Paintings of India are the original artworks from which commercial printers created mass-produced popular images. The artworks can be grouped into major themes; religion, alluring women, patriotic national heroes and political leaders, movie stars, divine cherubic babies.

Functioning as pin-ups, calendar illustrations, and altar gods, the printed images can be found throughout 19th, 20th and 21st century India homes, schools, shrines, public halls and workplaces. Displayed within a wide range of contexts this art knows no class boundaries: in living rooms of the prosperous, on urban slum lean-to’s, in village thatched dwellings, framed in middle class kitchens.

The prints of specifically religious nature depict gods, goddesses, epic scenes, saints and sacred sites. Displayed in every kind of shop imaginable (tailor shops, tea stalls, grocery stores), transport (car and taxi dashboards, train conductors perch), upon persons (shirt pockets, wallets, purse), these iconic images are believed to act as talismans offering a means to worship, and, potentially access the divine.

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similar calendar art paintings and/or prints have been exhibited and/or archived at the following venues:

=> Gods in the Bazaar

=> Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia (Vancouver)

=> The British Museum