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.