Necklace Inscribed with the Name of King Pratapamalladeva
Nepal (Kathmandu Valley)
About 1650
- Medium
- Gilt copper with semiprecious stones
- Classification
- Costume and Accessories
- Dimensions
- 36.2 × 35.6 × 8.9 cm (14 1/4 × 14 × 3 1/2 in.)
- Culture
- Kathmandu Valley
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of Asia
- Credit line
- Gift of the Alsdorf Foundation
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its subject is for older viewers (war, death, the Passion, drink or the like). How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
This ornament may have been given by King Pratapamalla (r. 1641–74), ruler of the Malla dynasty of Nepal, to Taleju Bhavani, the revered patron goddess of the old palace in Kathmandu and the chief protective deity of Nepal and its royal family. King Pratapamalla may also have worn this collar when he participated in rituals. This complex piece is composed of five principal strands and bears the inscription: “Victory to the Mother-Goddess [Bhagavati devi Janani]. Hail! [This] is the necklace of the king of kings, lord of kings, lord of the poets, the victorious Pratapamalladeva (may it be) auspicious!”
The two innermost strands resemble rudraksha beads, made from the seeds of a large evergreen tree whose berries are commonly made into rosaries of 108 beads. Such prayer beads are most often worn by Shaivite ascetics, either around the neck or woven into their topknots. The third and fourth strands consist of tubular forms in a crescent shape known as hansuli. Each terminates in elaborate clasps, with the inner strand attached to a central amulet case. The outermost ring contains thirteen images of deities, including roundels of the eight mothers (ashtamatrikas), each depicted as…
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
