Hanuman pectoral plaque, India. Worn by ascetic devotees to Hanuman, especially in Karnataka (though encountered elsewhere) suspended from the neck.
Hanuman, the celebrated celestial monkey chief and devoted follower of Rama, is held in great veneration all over India by Hindu Shaivas and Shaktas, but especially in the south by Vaishnavas, because of his humility, loyalty, and assistance to Ramachandra, the seventh of the ten incarnations (dasavataras) of Vishnu. Devotees believe that his worship imbues them with physical energy, fearlessness, and mental enlightenment.
Material: bronze
Age: 19th century or early 20th
Provenance: European private collection
Dimensions: 17 x 14,5 cm
Weight: 334 g
Literature:
“Traditional jewelry of India”, Untracht, Oppi, Harry N. Abrams. Inc publishers, 1997, p. 108-10
“Unknown Masterpieces of Indian Folk and Tribal Art”, Aryan, S. & B.N. Ayran, KC Aryan’s Home of Folk Art, 2016.
“Change and Continuity: Folk and Tribal Art of India”, Dursum, B., et al, Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, 2004.
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