Vishva Rajalakshmi Gomata

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The iconography of this print emerges in conjunction with the popularization of lithographic images of the Hindu gods; it has no real historic precedent. According to Pinney, such images seem to be related to the growing importance of cow protection groups who were attempting to “rouse Hindu feelings against Christians and Muhammadans on account of the killing of cows”. The cow comes to embody Hindu cosmology; technically 84 gods are shown within the cow’s body, though in this example only 33 appear. This imagery played an important role in the emergence of Hindu nationalism that targeted meat-eating lower casts along with non-Hindu religious and colonial communities. Variations on this iconography were issued by most of the major presses.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.

Metropolitan Museum of Art