Page 9 - Bonhams NYC Indian and Himalayan Art March 2019
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THE COSMIC MAN (LOKAPURUSHA) As noted by Pal, ‘According to the Jain tradition the shape of the
RAJASTHAN, 18TH CENTURY cosmos is comparable with a man standing akimbo: broadest at
Pigments on cloth, mounted on canvas and stretched. the bottom, narrowest in the middle, broader around the chest, and
110 x 80 in. (279 x 203 cm) narrow once again at the top’ (The Peaceful Liberators, Los Angeles,
1994, pp.82 & 231, no.103a.)
$15,000 - 20,000
Provenance
Lokapurushas represent man as a microcosm of the universe. Here, L.A. Louver, Los Angeles, March 1990
the giant figure is trisected, with adholoka (lower world) below his Private Californian Collection
waist, madhyaloka (middle world) in the form of a jambudvipa at
the waist, and urdhvaloka (upper world) populated by deities and
pilgrimage sites.
INDIAN, HIMALAYAN & SOUTHEAST ASIAN ART | 7
