Goddess Matangi

Sasadhar Banarjee

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This print depicts Matangi, one of the ten Mahavidyas, the Tantric goddesses. She is understood as an aspect of Devi, the Divine Mother of Hinduism and is considered as the Tantric form of Sarasvati, the goddess of music and learning. Like Sarasvati, Matangi governs speech, music, knowledge and the arts. Her worship is prescribed to acquire supernatural powers, especially gaining control over one’s enemies and acquiring mastery over the arts and supreme knowledge. Her emerald green complexion links her to the presiding deity of the planet Mercury, who controls intelligence. She is shown as a beautiful, dark-complexioned young woman, with long, unbound wavy hair, seated on a pentagonal throne with lion-feet. She holds a noose and a goad in her upper hands and a sword and a shield in her lower hands, and is situated in a landscape setting amidst trees and with a backdrop of mountains. Despite her association with Sarasvati, she is also associated with inauspiciousness and pollution which likely alludes to her ancestral connections to low-caste communities and hunting tribes, who worship her.

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