A folding book of gods and goddesses
[An illustrated Nepalese manuscript].
Folding or concertina book, tall 8vo (220 x 90 mm). 15 ff. Sanskrit manuscript on thick yellow-dyed paper. Black script with important words and phrases highlighted in red. With 5 diagrams in red, of these 4 double-page, and with 8 leaves with large illustrations.
€ 4,500.00
With eight leaves of hand-painted illustrations and several large diagrams: a Nepalese Sanskrit manuscript, elaborately decorated. The eight leaves of paintings show a procession of gods and goddesses in sequence, each accompanied by a dedicated shloka (a form of religious verse). Some of these deities take the form of animals: one is Varah, the boar that serves as an avatar of Vishnu, another Shesh Naag, the god snake, and a turtle and frog. Alongside these are the goddesses Jaganmata (literally "mother of the world," referring to Lakshmi, and identifiable by the two flowers she holds) and Gayatri. The distinctive elephant-headed Ganpati (Ganesha), too, appears, flanked by his consorts Riddhi and Siddhi. Each is elaborately painted and decorated, and due to the nature of the concertina book, can be viewed in sequence or unfolded to be viewed all at once. Within the text itself are elaborate geometrical diagrams, similar to astrological designs.
With two chips out of text block, some minor loss to text and diagrams. Paintings remain bright and clean.
