Religious art has a long history in the Hindu tradition, extending from the 3rd millennium B.C.E. to the present. Images of Devi, or "Goddess", are central to Hindu religious art.  Devi represents the female aspect of divinity and embodies the powers and physical energies that animate the universe. She is also associated with the forces of maternity, illusion, nature, and destruction. Devi appears in myriad forms to her devotees--as supreme, transcendental goddesses, as place-specific deities, and as consort to various male Gods--and invigorates the lives of millions of Hindus around the world.

This exhibition features a 1983 calendar from India which celebrates the various aspects of Devi. Created by famed Indian painter Indra Sharma, the prints in this calendar combine the artist's personal vision with elements of popular 19th-century Indian iconographic style while drawing upon a centuries-old artistic, cultural, and religious tradition. Sharma's colorful, lush, and detailed paintings depict important scenes from Hindu cosmology.

Though it is sometimes discarded by art critics as kitsch, Sharma's calendar art is immensely popular in India. His images of gods and goddesses are ubiquitous, gazing down upon millions of people from vehicles and home, office, and store walls, and provide them with a visual connection to the divine amidst the mundane. 

All objects in the exhibition belong to the Devi Puja calendar for 1983, designed by Indra Raamaa, and published by Graphite India Limited. The calendar is a recent gift to the Picker Art Gallery from Andrew J. Rotter and Padma Kaimal (2006.7.4a-m).