Lajja Gauri

[2] Icons of Lajja Gauri have been found in different villages, and local people identify her with other goddesses such as Aditi, Adya Shakti, Renuka and Yallamma.

[5] A notable sculpture of her dating to 150-300 CE was found at Amravati (now kept at State Museum, Chennai),[6] Tribal areas of Central India, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, where the town of Badami, known for the Badami Cave Temples, has a sculpture of the deity preserved at the local Archeological Museum, originally found in Naganatha Temple, Naganathakolla, Bijapur District,[7] and has an extant temple dedicated to the goddess in Badami Chalukya Architecture, within the town precincts dating to Chalukya Empire which flourished around the 6th century AD.

[8] Maithili people worship Lajja Gauri during the marriage.She is an integral part of the Kohbar Mithila Painting which is kept in the nuptial chamber of newly weds.

Another arguable interpretation by Dr. Ramachandra C. Dhere in his book entitled Lajja Gauri is that Lanja/Lanjika means 'naked', which reminds us of the geographical area in Konkan (Maharashtra), called Lanja.

During the 19th century, when the British archaeologists discovered these images for the first time, they were shocked by the indecent eroticism and the shamelessness of such nude representations.

In Indian art and aesthetics, the Gauri's uttanapad pose, that is how she sits with her knees bent and legs drawn up to the sides of her abdomen, signifies creation.

She is an aspect of Gauri, that is a form of Parvati, the consort of Shiva, who is modest and shy, directly opposite to the interpretations of British archeologists who labelled these images as a nude–heathen representation of eroticism.

[9] This Gauri image is always associated with distinct symbols that connote the idea of fortune and fertility, explicitly signifying her powers.

Moreover, the arrangement of the torso, the large breasts, and the flower buds flanking the bloomed lotus on the head are similar to the purna kalasha design popular in all Hindu rituals and festivals since the Vedic times.

One of the major contributing factors to Lajja Gauri's transformation from an esoteric personfied representational image to a full-fledged Hindu goddess was royal patronage, particularly the attention extended to her by the Chalukya kings.

[9] The quality and the quantity of the production of her images during the Early Chalukya rule suggests her popularity, and the royal patronage she enjoyed during the period.