Yoga - Yogini on Owl

Photo courtesy of Smithsonian's Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
June 13, 2016
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Yogini on Owl
Photo courtesy of Smithsonian's Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

 India, Uttar Pradesh, Kannauj, ca. 1000-1050 CE

Sandstone, 86.4 x 43.8 x 24.8 cm
San Antonio Museum of Art, purchased with the John and Karen McFarlin Fund and Asian Art Challenge Fund, 90.92
Seated with her legs audaciously akimbo on an owl vehicle, this flying yogini has the weapons and bared teeth of a fierce deity and the voluptuous body of a benign goddess. Magnificently carved, it is the only surviving trace of a temple that would have housed 42, 64, 81 or 108 yoginis of similar size.