HESCAH Talk: Of Mothers, Wives, and Goddesses: Looking for women in the art of the Himalayas

This Harn Eminent Scholar in Art History (HESCAH) lecture, provided by Dr. Jinah Kim, George P. Bickford Professor of Indian and South Asian Art, Harvard University, will survey images of women both human and divine in Buddhist and Hindu art of Nepal, Indian Himalayas and beyond. It will demonstrate how historical women whose names are now largely forgotten played a crucial role in uplifting the spiritual wellbeing of their partners and families as wives and mothers, just as divine mothers, like the goddess Prajñāpāramitā and the goddess Vajrayoginī, played a foundational role in their spiritual sons’ quests for transcendence.

Image credit: (detail), Newar Buddhist master with his family preaching to a donor family, folio 311r, Perfection of Wisdom sutra manuscript, c. Mid-12^th century, Pigment, gold, and ink on blue black paper, Nepal, Private collection, Kathmandu. Photo: Jinah Kim.