Parvati

In the Hindu religion, Parvati, the consort of Shiva, is the archetypal mother goddess and fertility image. She benevolently mediates between the worshiper and the divine. This graceful sculpture represents the divinity as an ideal beauty. Her heavy breasts, narrow waist, and rounded hips conform to established systems of proportions set down in Hindu artistic-theological manuals. This delicate bronze was placed in a temple, and its relatively small size permitted devotees to carry it in religious processions.