mohra

bronze
Northwestern India (Himachal Pradesh), ca. 16th-18th cent.
high: 22 cm.

In the valleys of Himachal Pradesh exist a very old tradition, to worship the Hindu deities in the form of metal masks, most of them cast, and sometimes hammered out of a copper, silver or gold plate. These masks are kept in the temples, and once or twice a year shown to the devotees, packed together and carried around in procession. Most of these mask depict the god Shiva, but masks of other deities exist too. This mask clearly depict a female deity, probably Parvati, the spouse of Shiva.