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Thread: A tilt of the head...

  1. #1
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    A tilt of the head...

    Namaste all!

    On a recent visit to the Sri Venkateshwara Temple in Dayton Ohio I was struck by a small detail in the Ram Parivar shrine.

    Perhaps it's a detail so small it's not worth noticing, but it has stayed with me and I wanted to see if anyone else had thoughts on it.

    The Ram Parivar Murtis are made of painted, white marble, in a style I've seen before. What I haven't seen in the unique position of Sri Sita's head and gaze as it is in this set.

    In all depictions I've seen thus far, Ram, Lakshman and Sita face forward, eyes straight out. They almost look through you or over your head (depending if you are seated and how large they are). I noticed while praying, that Sita's head is tilted and her eyes appear to look down to the right ever so slightly. This had the effect of making it look like she was looking at me as I sat there.

    So of course my gaze was drawn back to her. I just did a quick google search and can't seem to find a similar set of murtis with this unique head position for Sita.

    The only thing I can think of is that the artist did this to achieve a more feminine or demur look.

    That's all. It was just something I noticed and thought was interesting from an artistic perspective.
    "God will not have his work made manifest by cowards."
    ~Ralph Waldo Emerson


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    Re: A tilt of the head...

    Sri Rama parivar, as we all have observed, usually has Rama standing with Sita to his left, Lakshmana to his right and Hanuman ji kneeling down, praying, before him.

    But in some Rama temples, there are variations to this standard: (I cannot recollect temple names, but will post them if I am successful in my search).

    i) In one temple that I read about, Rama is standing almost a foot ahead of Sita as if he is walking away from her.

    ii) In another, Rama is lying down on Serpent bed alone without Sita in this sanctum sanctorum.

    iii) In yet another, Rama has 4 arms and carries conch and disc and has Lakshmi on his chest.

    There are many such variations to how Rama is depicted, based on the site's puranic tale. I believe at the Dayton temple, they may have modelled the idols after some other temple, one thing which you could ask them.
    jai hanuman gyan gun sagar jai kapis tihu lok ujagar

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    Re: A tilt of the head...

    Thank you for the information, Viraja. I will see if I can contact them to ask.
    "God will not have his work made manifest by cowards."
    ~Ralph Waldo Emerson


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    Re: A tilt of the head...

    Namaste

    Look at my avatar, Devi is looking down and slightly to one side.

    In the Hindu marriage Murti depiction on an altar, the Devi stands on the right (to the viewers left). As you describe Sita, this is how I envision Her, looking slightly down as She is pure, She is graceful and dignified as She weds. This temple may perhaps be reflecting the lila of engagement or wedding.

    Sometimes in such altars, if Devi is wed to two Devatas, or is being given by Father Deva to the Groom's Father Deva, She stands in the middle, looking beautiful and glancing gracefully down.

    At the 14th Century temple of Kodandaramaswami in Hiremagalur, Chikkamagaluru district, Karnataka, South India, we find Sita on Rama's good Right (to the viewers left) with Laxman to His good Left, not typical of most Rama temples where She is on Rams good Left. Because She is to be Wed.

    But not every temple depicts the engagement or wedding, Devi may not be to Deva's right. But when She looks down, and glances left and right, She is pure grace, beautiful, She is perhaps being given.

    They step forward, to you, looking down. Sita looks downward. This is The Bewedding, they Come forward the Divine couple with Brother. Sita is Devi, beautiful and graceful, almost shy but She comes forward to the audience of Gods.

    And forward to you, Darshan is a communion for you.

    Sita is Divine, so beautiful, She came from the Earth, Who was found in a furrow. You are blessed to see Her.

    Om Namath Sivaya

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    Re: A tilt of the head...

    Thank you for that beautiful explanation, Shivafan! That is quite interesting.

    I'm about to make a painting of Sri Ram and Sri Sita's wedding, although in my depiction they will be seated. I had planned to have Sita seated to Rama's right (viewer's left) only because I couldn't find out if there was any significance to which side an Indian bride sits on. (It seemed as though different cultures within India all did it differently)

    Again, I appreciate the info!
    "God will not have his work made manifest by cowards."
    ~Ralph Waldo Emerson


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    Re: A tilt of the head...

    For what its worth, I thought of adding this small bit of info here, in the picture of Vishnu/Lakshmi (such as in Lakshmi Narasimha or Lakshmi Hayagriva), if Lakshmi is seated on the lap of Narasimha/Hayagriva and to his right, it is said to increase the spiritual wealth of the devotee. If placed on the lap to the left of Narasimha/Hayagriva, it is said to increase the devotee's material wealth.
    jai hanuman gyan gun sagar jai kapis tihu lok ujagar

  7. #7

    Re: A tilt of the head...

    This is really heartening and my thoughts here...

    I have heard (from the guru of my family) a very touching reason for the consorts casting their eyes downward - this is the norm in South India style temples. While it is very graceful, it also is due to the extremely gentle and compassionate heart. As in the first shlokam of Venkatesha Prapatti, it is the goddess who increases the calmness with of Shrti Venkatachalapati and has great Vatsalya (motherly love) towards all. For example, Sitadevi was compassionate to even Ravana and gave advise so that he can also become a bhakt of Shri Rama and she cannot tolerate any bhakt having any discomfort.

    So she thinks that the bhakt has taken extreme pains to travel all the way to the temple for darshan (in her eyes, even this effort is too much) and she is somewhat shy to think of how to make the bhakt's visit worthwhile and is at a loss for she is the moving force for Shri Krishna or Mahadeva to bless the devotee. She thus feels that it is difficult to properly compensate the child for his/her discomfort and thus has her eyes downcast.

    I think Jodhaa's experience and Rasika bhava is very fortunate to have and is the basis for experiencing bhakti rasa by noticing such small and subtle points. I hope I develop this attention to detail and someday get an opportunity to serve with such a discerning eye.

    Maybe the artist had a reason in his heart for such a posture. For example, Kanchipurna (I may be wrong about the name), an acharya of Shri Ramanujacharya at the Varadarajaswamy temple used to fan the dieties from Sitadevi's side remembering that Shri Rama was standing in Dhanushkoti (southernmost tip of India) so that the wind that touched Sitadevi may also touch Him.

    Maybe the goddess is looking at the Lord's feet where the bhakt is offering the pranaam and making sure that Shri Ram offers the opportunity for the bhakt to offer service at Shri Rama's feet.

    Jai SitaRama

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