Plaque - Hariti and Child

This plaque of the goddess Hariti is from around 1800 in Mathura, in what is now northern India. Mathura is a significant holy site for devotees of the Hindu god Krishna. It was also a major center of Buddhist art in India in the first millennium CE. In this terracotta plaque, perhaps from a temple, we can recognize Hariti from the child in her hands. Her dress is much more simple and modern than in other representations. She lifts her foot to pull a thorn from it, a common pose of yakshinis (nature spirits) and apsaras (heavenly feminine spirits) in Indian art. This pose continued to be a popular position for youthful beauties, both human and divine, in 18th and 19th century Indian art, for example in this Rajasthani miniature and Raja Ravi Varma’s famous painting of Shakuntala.