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Scroll

early 19th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Scroll, in ink, opaque watercolour, gold and silver on paper, depicting the chakras (centres of psychic energy) and scenes with figures in Hindu mythology. The scenes depicted are (from top to bottom, analysis by J. P. Losty of the British Library, 1987):

1. The sage Markandeya worshipping the baby Krishna in the interval between the end of the universe and beginning of a new creation when all that exists is an ocean with the tree, Krishna and the sage,
2. Lord Shiva in four-armed form,
3. Shiva united with Parvati on the 1,000-petalled lotus Sahasra Chakra, situated where the bones meet at the top of the skull,
4. The Sarabha, a mythical beast created by Lord Shiva to overcome the Garuda (see below) and made up out of the most vital parts of other animals,
5. Possibly Surya, the sun god,
6. Possibly Visuddha,
7. Black-petalled lotus with hansa duck or goose, representing the soul, possibly Ajna Chakra(between the eyebrows),
8. Shiva and Parvati in union with their riding animals the Bull and the Tiger. Probably the throat centre,
9. Vishnu in four-armed form, probably the heart centre,
10. Vishnu in union with Lakshmi. Centre four finger-widths below navel, and their bearer Garuda,
11. Maludhara Chakra, situated on the prostrate gland (for males, equivalent for females). The coiled snake is the Kundalini, the inherent spiritual potential in all beings. The idea is to awaken the sleeping energy and lead it upwards through all the centres, towards union with the divine. To the side is Brahma, also a baby in the womb,
12. Sri Yantra, showing the union of the physical world, prakriti, Shiva's wife, with spiritural energy, and parusha, Shiva, that brings the universe into being,
13. Kumara (Youtu) and Kumari (Maiden), children of Shiva - god of war,
14. Ganesh the elephant-headed god of all beginnings, remover of obstacles, with his two wives, intelligence (Buddhi) and Success (Siddhi),
15. The world and perhaps the Nandi bull, on which Shiva rides,
16. The world supported on the tusks of Varaha, the boar incarnation of Vishnu,
17. The world supported on the 1,000 heads of Ananda the endless serpent,
18. 3 forms of the serpent (scenes 19 and 20 unidentified)
21. Turtle, frog and fish on which the world rests; this is a variant of the basic system. Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma form the Holy Trinity, Shiva the destroyer of the world (in the sense of Ender of the Obsolete).


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Written and painted in ink, opaque watercolour, gold and silver on paper
Brief description
Painting, scroll depicting the chakras (centres of psychic energy), Hindu mythology, Kashmir, early 19th century
Physical description
Scroll, in ink, opaque watercolour, gold and silver on paper, depicting the chakras (centres of psychic energy) and scenes with figures in Hindu mythology. The scenes depicted are (from top to bottom, analysis by J. P. Losty of the British Library, 1987):

1. The sage Markandeya worshipping the baby Krishna in the interval between the end of the universe and beginning of a new creation when all that exists is an ocean with the tree, Krishna and the sage,
2. Lord Shiva in four-armed form,
3. Shiva united with Parvati on the 1,000-petalled lotus Sahasra Chakra, situated where the bones meet at the top of the skull,
4. The Sarabha, a mythical beast created by Lord Shiva to overcome the Garuda (see below) and made up out of the most vital parts of other animals,
5. Possibly Surya, the sun god,
6. Possibly Visuddha,
7. Black-petalled lotus with hansa duck or goose, representing the soul, possibly Ajna Chakra(between the eyebrows),
8. Shiva and Parvati in union with their riding animals the Bull and the Tiger. Probably the throat centre,
9. Vishnu in four-armed form, probably the heart centre,
10. Vishnu in union with Lakshmi. Centre four finger-widths below navel, and their bearer Garuda,
11. Maludhara Chakra, situated on the prostrate gland (for males, equivalent for females). The coiled snake is the Kundalini, the inherent spiritual potential in all beings. The idea is to awaken the sleeping energy and lead it upwards through all the centres, towards union with the divine. To the side is Brahma, also a baby in the womb,
12. Sri Yantra, showing the union of the physical world, prakriti, Shiva's wife, with spiritural energy, and parusha, Shiva, that brings the universe into being,
13. Kumara (Youtu) and Kumari (Maiden), children of Shiva - god of war,
14. Ganesh the elephant-headed god of all beginnings, remover of obstacles, with his two wives, intelligence (Buddhi) and Success (Siddhi),
15. The world and perhaps the Nandi bull, on which Shiva rides,
16. The world supported on the tusks of Varaha, the boar incarnation of Vishnu,
17. The world supported on the 1,000 heads of Ananda the endless serpent,
18. 3 forms of the serpent (scenes 19 and 20 unidentified)
21. Turtle, frog and fish on which the world rests; this is a variant of the basic system. Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma form the Holy Trinity, Shiva the destroyer of the world (in the sense of Ender of the Obsolete).
Dimensions
  • Without new paper at beginning height: 376.7cm
  • Width: 17cm
  • Width:
The additional paper at the beginning of the scroll measure L.14.3 cm x W.17 cm.
Content description
The chakras (centres of psychic energy) and scenes with figures in Hindu mythology
Subjects depicted
Bibliographic reference
Diamond, D. Yoga: The Art of Transformation, Smithsonian Institute, 2013, 978-1-58834-459-5 pp 166, and 170-71, 11C.
Collection
Accession number
IS.8-1987

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Record createdNovember 29, 2002
Record URL
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