Kamdhenu

Gogi Saroj Pal’s Kamdhenu series, painted between 1989 and 1998, depicts a woman whose head, arms and feet are human, but with the torso, legs, and tail, of a cow. The term kamdhenu comes from the ancient story in which the devas, divine male spirits, and asuras, demons, churned up the ocean to bring forth gifts, including a wish-fulfilling cow. The subject of this painting is a young woman trapped in the traditional role—her ruby-red lips and alta-covered hands and feet emphasising her status as ornament, even as she finds herself captive in her role though without visible constraints.