Relief from a Carved Processional Car

This wood sculpture is a panel that was once part of the decoration of a processional cart (rátha), used to carry a Hindu icon outside of a temple to allow darshan. The figure is Ganga, the Hindu goddess who personifies the holy river Ganga, also called the Ganges. She can be identified by what she rides, a makara. These mythical creatures combine elements from various other animals, here an elephant’s trunk and a lion’s body. On processional carts and in architectural decorations, Ganga was often paired with another river goddess, Yamuna, who personifies the Yamuna River, a tributary of the Ganges. Both goddesses often flanked doorways as guardians and greeters. The image of a woman grasping the branch of a tree is also an ancient subject in India, based on very early images of yakshi or yakshini, a type of female nature deity associated with fertility and the bounty of the natural world.