On loan to The Met The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Raga Brahma, Creator of the Universe
Not on view
The creator god Brahma, known since late Vedic times, has a diminished role in historical Brahmanism, having been displaced by Shiva and Vishnu. He is represented four-headed and here wears a shared diadem with pink lotus plumage. In his four arms he holds his standard attributes, the jewel-encrusted water vessel (kamandalu), a rosary, a holy book inscribed with verses from the Vedas and a tuft of sacred kusa grass used in Vedic ritual. He is mounted on his divine vehicle (vahana), the white goose (hamsa) which stands perch on a grassy hillock. Chromatically, the picture is dramatic, with the play of brilliant yellow, crimson and white against an intense red ground imparting a divine authority. and here wears a shared diadem with pink lotus plumage. In his four arms he holds his standard attributes, the jewel-encrusted water vessel (kamandalu), a rosary, a holy book inscribed with verses from the Vedas and a tuft of sacred kusa grass used in Vedic ritual. He is mounted on his divine vehicle (vahana), the white goose (hamsa) which stands perch on a grassy hillock. Chromatically, the picture is dramatic, with the play of brilliant yellow, crimson and white against an intense red ground imparting a divine authority.
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