Lakshmi

We see a depiction of Goddess Lakshmi who is seen seated on top of Garuda, taken from the rich visual and devotional traditions of Hindu mythology, presenting divinity through restraint rather than theatrical grandeur. Lakshmi, revered as the goddess of wealth, prosperity and auspicious fortune, is closely associated with Vishnu, the preserver of the universe. Garuda, who is Vishnu’s celestial mount or the Vahana, is a personification of strength, speed and triumph of divine order over destructive forces. Lakshmi who is seated in lalitāsanā, posture of relaxed and regal ease. The composition makes the audience see that, a divine being who is both exalted and approachable, giving assurance without relying on overt spectacle. Majumdar’s artistic language lends the mythological subject a distinctive visual. A prominent figure of the Bengal School and a pupil of Abanindranath Tagore, he sided away from the emphatic naturalism of European academic painting, and towards a more introspective visual vocabulary rooted in Indian traditions, which we can clearly see in the painting. His characteristic use of delicate curves and lines, elongated figures and carefully restrained colour, often developed through wash and tempera techniques, giving his subjects an almost weightless presence. Rather than treating jewellery and posture as mere embellishments, we see his approach allowed gesture and silhouette to tell the spiritual composure. The choice of Garuda as Lakshmi’s support also introduces an intriguing relationship between motion or movement (speed) and clamness or stillness (serene), the celestial vehicle evokes flight and force, while the goddess’s composed posture suggests stability and abundance. This contrast gives the image a symbolic balance, bringing together energy with serene and calmness alongwith worldly prosperity with divine protection. Such imagery belongs to a long history of Indian sacred art in which the relationships between deities and their vahanas convey theological meaning through visual form. Ultimately, Majumdar’s painting is more than an illustration of a familiar mythological figure. It reflects the Bengal School’s broader effort to recover the expressive possibilities of Indian religious imagery, transforming inherited iconography into a quiet, contemplative language of modern Indian art.