South-Indian Images of Gods and Goddesses c10.s2.12

c10.s2.12

The general form of the goddess Gaurī, Pārvatī or Umā, the consort of Siva, as given in the Kāsyapa-Silpa and the Mānasāra, is that she has two hands when accompanying the god Siva and four when represented independently. In the former case she is fully decorated, is standing or seated on a lotus pedestal, holds a blue lily in the right hand, while her left hangs down loose "like the tail of a cow." She wears a band on the forehead called phālapatta, has one of her legs slightly bent (kunchita) and the other placed straight (lambita or svastika) on the pedestal; she stands to the left of the image of Siva or the Siva-linga and wears the head-dress karandamakuta, kiritamakuta or kēsabandha (fig. 119). In the latter case also she is fully decorated, has a jatāmakuta like a male deity, and presents with her lower hands the varada and abhaya postures, while in the upper two she holds the red and the blue lotuses. Earlier authorities state that she may also exhibit in these hands the lily and the rosary. The illustration from Paramēsvaramangalam (fig. 120) shows in the upper hands the noose and the hook. Gaurī is usually represented with the ornaments of an unmarried girl (kanyakā), sometimes doing penance with the object of securing Siva for her husband (fig. 121), and in this form she is worshipped by the Māhēsvaras.