This piece titled ' Manasa ' is a mythological painting by Kshitindranath Majumdar . It depicts the snake goddess who was originally a local or folk deity . Goddess Manasa is widely worshiped in Bengal , but earlier she was a local deity mainly worshiped bỵ tribal people. The artist particularly focuses on mythological tales and Buddhist mythological tales.The focus on indigenous myths makes the painting a special piece. The foreground is monochromatic in hue .The use of defined borders is a regular feature in most of Kshitindranath Majumdar's artworks. The depiction of the divine varies with regards to the conventional styles of depiction .
The abstract imagery implemented in the painting is highly impeccable in nature . The goddess is seen seated on an unusual throne not the one generally affiliated to gods and goddesses. A snake is the throne to the goddess of snakes . The goddess is adorned not only in gold jewellery , but also a snake coiled round her neck. Painted approximately around 1914,the presence of the goddess in the Hindu mythological pantheon had already become widespread post the emergence of Manasa Mangal Kavya .The deity is half clad and her upper torso is completely bare, naked . However, she has four arms , unlike more circulated depictions.
In Manasa, Majumdar paints the moment when a local, dangerous folk deity is sublimated into a serene, pan-Indian ideal. It is an image of immense quiet, an invitation to experience the numinous not through fear but through aesthetic surrender. You do not leave this painting feeling the sting of a serpent. You leave it feeling the gentleness of a mother who has been convinced, by the artist's patient hand, to be kind.
