The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 18, 2025

Goddess Siddhalakshmi

1000s

India, Kashmir

bronze
Overall: 22.2 cm (8 3/4 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1982.47
Location: 244 Indian and Southeast Asian

Did You Know?

In tantric texts, this goddess is described as white.

Description

This specific goddess with five heads and ten arms is described in Hindu ritual handbooks from Kashmir. She is white in color and "rests on a lotus and Shiva." Her left hands hold, from top to bottom: an elephant goad, manuscript, noose (broken), the gift-giving gesture, and a hatchet. In her right hands are a sword, trident, skull staff, skull cup, and the gesture of protection. These objects reveal the awe-inspiring extent of her knowledge, skill, and power to defeat enemies on behalf of her devotees.
  • Pan Asia Collection
    1982
    (Robert H. Ellsworth [1929–2014], New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1982–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Lee, Sherman E. “Year in Review for 1982.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 70, no. 1 (January 1983): 3–55. www.jstor.org
    Reedy, Chandra L. Himalayan Bronzes: Technology, Style, and Choices. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1997. Reproduced: p. 178, fig. H107
    Pal, Pratapaditya, Amy Heller, Oskar von Hinüber, and Gautamavajra Vajrācārya. Himalayas: An Aesthetic Adventure. Chicago, IL: Art Institute of Chicago in association with University of California Press and Mapin Pub, 2003. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 82, p. 131
    Donaldson, Thomas E. Síva-Pārvatī and Allied Images: Their Iconography and Body Language. New Delhi: D.K. Printworld, 2007. Reproduced: p. 321, fig. 302
  • Himalayas: An Aesthetic Adventure. The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (organizer) (April 5-August 17, 2003); National Museum of Asian Art, Washington, DC (October 19, 2003-January 11, 2004).
    The Year in Review for 1982. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 5-February 6, 1983).
  • {{cite web|title=Goddess Siddhalakshmi|url=false|author=|year=1000s|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1982.47