THREE JAGANNATH PAINTINGS, ORISSA, EASTERN INDIA, 20TH CENTURY -...

THREE JAGANNATH PAINTINGS, ORISSA, EASTERN INDIA, 20TH CENTURY - gouache on card, each depicting the

trio of Puri deities, Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra, one with the three riding in processional chariots, the other two standing with devotees and offerings in the foreground, surrounded by stylised floral border, each framed - 62 x 76cm approx. each - Jagannatha is the 'Lord of the World', a form of Krishna worshipped at the famous shrine at Puri. He and his brother Balabhadra and their sister Subhadra are worshipped as a trio, always depicted with large round eyes and often handless arms. The cult is an example of the characteristic ability of Hinduism to absorb popular local cults into the mainstream. It is likely that the association of Jagannath with Vaishnavism occurred after the cult was well established, and simple village origins in the form of painted and roughly carved wood images is suggested by the highly stylised iconography. Paintings of this type were produced as mementoes for pilgrims visiting the famous temple in the seaside town, built in the 12th century by Anantavarman Codagangadeva. For similar paintings on cloth in the British Museum, acquired in 1880, see inv. nos. 1894,0613,0.47 & 1880,0.301. See also lot 242.