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Object Name: Lamp
Place of Origin: Tamil Nadu, India
Date/Era: 19th century
Dimensions: H: 28.00 cm, W: 7.00 cm, D: 13.00 cm
Medium/Materials: Brass
Credit Line: Fowler Museum at UCLA. Gift of the Pal Family.
Accession Number: X2001.11.4
One of the most common lamp types is the Lakshmi dipa, a lamp in the form of the goddess Lakshmi holding an oil burner in her outstretched arms. As the deity of prosperity, Lakshmi is a focus of domestic worship, most often by women, and her form appears in characteristic regional expressions throughout India. The goddess crowned with a multi-headed snake (naga)-although she follows the form of the Lakshmi lamps-is probably meant to represent a female deity known as a nagini.
Source: Exhibition wall text, Flames of Devotion: Oil Lamps from South and Southeast Asia and the Himalayas.