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Parvati is the Daughter of the Himalayas. Shiva's power (shakti) to act is embodied in his female consort. The devoted wife of Shiva she is the idealization of feminine beauty and the embodiment of physical desire and spiritual grace. Parvati is the very expression of femininity, the woman par excellence, daughter of the Himalayas. She is beautiful, sweet, tender, and is always portrayed as Shiva's erotic partner. The female has a elaborate headdress and jewellery, heavy spherical breats, narrow waist, ample hips and a graceful posture. They have the only sketchy attempts to portray details of physical anatomy as musculature. Instead, they have a quality known as prana, or inwardly held breath. This is identified as the essence of life. The gods and goddesses have their bodies tautly drawn, as if containing a pressure from within. The pose is often that called the tribhanga, or three bends. One is at the neck, another at the shoulders, and the hips. | |
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