Varahi Red sandstone India

A bust of Varahi wearing a heavy circular collar from which hangs a separate single-strand necklace that falls between the high, rounded breasts, large circular buckle-like earrings and a shawl draped around her shoulders. Her hair is loosely tied back into a high chignon and the head is framed by a large circular aureole.

Varahi is one of a group of Mother Goddesses worshipped in India from ancient times before developing, during the Gupta period, into the corresponding female aspect of male gods, hence she became the counterpart of Varaha, the boar incarnation of Vishnu. The sculpture is unusual in that instead of bearing the head of a boar she has a human face with the boar head emerging from her left shoulder.