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A thing I've been curious abt is, what I personally think of as "the old style of Hindu iconography". If you look up Hindu gods now, there's a very distinctive aesthetic. Eg, here's a pretty iconic depiction of Krishna revealing his cosmic infinitude to Arjuna before the battle https://t.co/l7Xv3HSbYy
you'll find images like these everywhere in India, and they are sacred – people put stickers of these on their cars, carry them in their wallets, adorn them with flowers in altars at home. What fascinates me is how distinctive the style is. It's effectively a genre of holy art https://t.co/DjHOOcJUe6
I think of this as "contemporary style", though it's probably at least a few decades old at this point. It feels a little "frozen in time" to me. These are the canonical images of what Hindu gods look like, and you'll find representations of them in Hindu homes, establishments https://t.co/1Eexcsw9Uc
Here's a comparison between "old" Mariamman and "new" Mariamman. I think we've made our gods look friendlier and more approachable over the years. (And, um... more... white?) This painting on the left is from ~1820. https://t.co/5gvgq2pU1E https://t.co/ozoP6GDmUm
it's surprisingly challenging (for me, so far) to find these older images online. This is Indra, and he's an interesting character because I believe(?) that he may actually be more popular in Southeast Asia than in India? That's him on the seal of the government of Bangkok https://t.co/GLdSyL9UlR
Thai and Indonesian depictions of Hinduism are fascinating and very cool, here's a Thai depiction of Vishnu, and a Balinese depiction of Saraswati (me: ok but can we stick to the topic at hand visabrain: no) https://t.co/oDNmkuPnle
L: Balinese Saraswati R: "Default" Saraswati https://t.co/GG86qF9PW7 https://t.co/bwdjAhX2Yr
an older style of Brahma the Creator, but I can't figure out the backstory or context. I'm guessing it was probably also around 1800s? https://t.co/7Ir7Tmow8a
I really like this image of Trimurti – Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva there's something about the older styles that I find very compelling, I can't quite articulate what exactly https://t.co/8BQTr0kyQL
side-thread about eroticism in older representations of deities https://t.co/22G1fkUz7U
"Yab-yum is a common symbol in Buddhist art [...] the primordial union of wisdom and compassion [...] a male deity in union with his female consort." there is an eroticism in some of this older material that gets stripped away in later reproductions https://t.co/hkmbwGdDGy https://t.co/gksv5T6Z2i
Lord Jagannath, root of the word juggernaut some of the art has a slightly terrifying psychedelic quality and some of the modern stuff seems... cute? as the Lord of the Universe, I'd imagine he's supposed to be at least little terrifying https://t.co/sDQN4KFVrs https://t.co/7nl4JkWDWV
It's fascinating to me how you can see certain universal motifs across cultures: Ai Aipec, the chief deity of the Mochica culture (Peru) the Kirtimukha, face of glory, guardian of the threshold (Hindu) Hannya, Japanese mask in Noh theater, common in tattoos the Maori Haka https://t.co/BTgGmE4sKn
L: Old Ganesh R: Default Ganesh Ganesh is an extremely popular deity with many names – I could probably do a whole separate thread about his depictions alone https://t.co/PiMGhNfHed https://t.co/RUghyNEcm2
Some alternate depictions – some of these were from the 1500s, some from the 1700s. The first and last ones are from Tibet https://t.co/urOswElEuZ
Ramakien https://t.co/yTNZSq36Mu
The influence of Hinduism on Thai culture is fascinating to me. The Thais have their own version of the Ramayana called the Ramakien In 1989, Indian poet Satya Vrat Shastri translated the Ramakien into Sanskrit https://t.co/bzj53rR5uP https://t.co/WhQdV4AXZf
Garuda https://t.co/rd3eWr1bSO https://t.co/RLHoMIkK3A
Garuda https://t.co/rd3eWr1bSO https://t.co/RLHoMIkK3A
ancient Athenian coins, ~545-515 BC https://t.co/kHJodPlwPj https://t.co/0IozQTuqqa
@goblinodds Ha! hmm! you're right! Now I wanna see her do Hindu gods https://t.co/7F1tHFmfTr
@visakanv I love all these, and I like the more “globalised” style. Probs that’s not ok for me to say coz I white :/ But it reminds me of the psychedelic experience. I see Hindu & African goddesses in the sky all the time. Fun to paint! On other side of melting pot, Android Jones: https://t.co/TXonjouvDj
