Object Name: Burner

Place of Origin: Kerala, India

Date/Era: 19th century

Dimensions: H: 23.50 cm, W: 9.00 cm, D: 12.40 cm

Medium/Materials: Brass

Credit Line: Fowler Museum at UCLA. Gift of the Pal Family.

Accession Number: X2001.11.83

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.