Large Early 19th Century Wooden Hindu Festival Icon of Indra

Early 19th century large wooden hindu festival icon of indra, mounted on a seated elephant. The statue still has the holes for the pole to be attached for carrying the icon through the streets during festivals. Carved from solid wood then covered in ia fine mesh and jeso (plaster) in the vedas, indra is the king of svarga (heaven) and the devas. He is the god of the heavens, lightning, thunder, storms, rains and river flows. Indra is the most referred to deity in the rigveda. He is celebrated for his powers, and the one who kills the great symbolic evil (asura) named vritra who obstructs human prosperity and happiness. Indra destroys vritra and his “deceiving forces”, and thereby brings rains and the sunshine as the friend of mankind. H 53.15 in. X w 47.25 in. X d 26.78 in. H 135 cm x w 120 cm x d 68 cm