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Devotions to Nagadevata

Asian Art

This unusual painting shows a group of individuals—human, divine, and semi-divine—worshipping a snake deity, or naga (with multiple cobra heads), in a temple setting. Indians of various religious affiliations have worshipped snakes since ancient times: poisonous, but helpful because they eat rodents, serpents are thought to have close ties to the earth and the underworld and are therefore believed to deserve reverence. The multi-headed, white-skinned figure at the left is the Hindu god Shiva. The horse-headed musician at the right is a kinnara, or celestial entertainer. The snake-god’s two wives, with human bodies and snake tails, appear at the right.
CULTURE Indian
MEDIUM Opaque watercolor and gold on paper
  • Place Made: Rajasthan, India
  • DATES ca. 1790
    DIMENSIONS sheet: 11 3/16 x 8 1/16 in. (28.4 x 20.5 cm) image: 8 1/8 x 5 1/4 in. (20.6 x 13.3 cm)  (show scale)
    COLLECTIONS Asian Art
    ACCESSION NUMBER 79.186.2
    CREDIT LINE Anonymous gift
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Indian. Devotions to Nagadevata, ca. 1790. Opaque watercolor and gold on paper, sheet: 11 3/16 x 8 1/16 in. (28.4 x 20.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Anonymous gift, 79.186.2 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 79.186.2_IMLS_PS4.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 79.186.2_IMLS_PS4.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2010
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