Indira Devi

M.V. Dhurandhar was a highly prolific artist and second only to Raja Ravi Varma in popularity across the subcontinent at a time when the latter’s oleographs of Hindu gods and goddesses were all the rage. This was the first time that affordable prints of the divinity were easily accessible by the masses. The demand ensured that artists like Varma and Dhurandhar created all possible images that had the potential to find buyers. An example is this oleograph, titled after Indira Devi, one of the 108 incarnations of goddess Laxmi. The vestments, the jewellery, the crown and the symbology associated with the goddess are all in keeping with her traditional description.