Matsya

Dimensions: 24cm high, 7cm wide
Code:CLAY 2021

Vintage terracotta bommai of Matsya from Tamil Nadu in the 1930s/40s. Matsya, is the first avatar/incarnation of the Hindu deity Vishnu and is half man and half fish. Matsya is believed to have saved earthly existence from the great flood. His upper hands carry the weapons associated with Vishnu, the conch shell and the discus. In his lower left hand, he holds a gada (a club or mace), which symbolises power and knowledge. The fourth hand is held up, palm outwards symbolizing the Abhayamudra, which represents protection, peace, benevolence and the dispelling of fear. Matsya is shown here in his characteristic blue colour and adorned with a gold crown and necklaces and garlanded with flowers. The blue at the base symbolises the ocean. Matsya is often invoked for protection from the sea and aquatic creatures.

Bommai are figures used for the display of dolls and figurines that takes place in South India during the Hindu festival of Navaratri, which is a nine-day festival celebrating the victory of good over evil. In Southern India the bommai are presented in the home on tier shelves, and friends and neighbours are invited to visit to view the displays and exchange gifts and sweets. There is evidence of this tradition dating back to the fourteenth century. Today, the exhibits are typically thematic, narrating a legend from a Hindu text or a secular cultural issue. The dolls are collected and passed on from one generation to another as an heirloom and new figures are added each year. These terracotta figures are also known as Kolu, Gombe Habba, Bommai Kolu, Bommalu Kolueru or Bommala Koluvu.