staty, skulptur, figur

Då Hjalmar Stolpe 1885 anlände till Benares nådde han samtidigt hinduismens främsta pilgrimsort. I sydöstra Uttar Pradesh, där Ganges tillfälligt viker mot norr, har sedan säkert tre tusen år legat en stad på flodens västra strand. Den uppstod vid det bästa färjestället efter denna sträcka. Ett fysiskt färjeställe på hindi är en tirtha. Det begreppet står dock samtidigt också för en plats där en "andlig överfart" kan ske, en pilgrimsort.
Så länge vi vet har folk kommit till Benares för att få möta gudarna, främst Shiva, men också för att dö, kremeras och befrias från återfödelse. Staden är fylld av tempel och heliga platser där gudar uppenbarat sig och där man kan få "audiens" darshana, med dem. Man möter deras blickar och frambär sina offergåvor. Pilgruimslederna i staden och dess omgivning omsluter i cirklar successivt allt, från det innersta templet till hela den region som pilgrimmerna kallar Kashi.
Det centrala templet i Benares är helgat åt Shiva, som "universums härskare", Vishvanatha. Liksom på Stolpes tid ligger det inklämt i den täta basarbebyggelsen granne med moskén Jnana Vapi. Förutom för hinduer är Benares en helig stad också för muslimer, sikher, jainer, och buddhister. I gränderna närmast tempel- och moskéområdet ligger de bodar tätt som betjänar pilgrimerna. Här finner man rökelse, radband, offergåvor till templen, religiösa texter, färgstoffer, och man kan köpa statyre som avbildar hinduismens rika panteon. På sina inköpsturer måste Hjalmar Stolpe ha vandrat i dessa trånga gränder. Mitt emot tempelområdets västra entré ligger butiker där statyer i marmor eller i svarta och gröna stenarter huggs, mejslas, poleras och ofta målas. Råmaterialet kommer mestadels från Rajasthan och så gör också hantverkarna. Jaipur Murtiwala ("Statymakarna från Jaipur") är sannolikt störst i branschen idag och var kanske också så vid Stolpes besök. Han köpte ett antal statyer, mest i målad vit marmor. Bland dem finns paret Krishna och Radha.
Krishna är den åttonde av guden Vishnus tio avatarer, inkarnationer. Han är älskad och dyrkad, inte minst inom den form av hinduisk religionsutövning som kallas bhakti, där man söker förening med gudomligheten genom hängivenhet. I texterna kan man följa Krishnas busstreck som litet knubbigt gossebarn med näven i smörkrukan, och i Bhagavad Gita, en central del av eposet Mahabarata, kan man studera hans existentiella utläggningar. Men man kan också följa hans erotiska eskapader med de unga flickor, gopi, som vallar korna i Brindawanskogen. Radha var den gopi som älskade och vördade honom mest och som han helst spelade flöjt för och uppvaktade allra hetast. [tills. m.1887.08.5173]

When Hjalmar Stolpe arrived in Benares (Varanasi) in 1885, he, at the same time, reached the pre-eminent place of pilgrimage in Hinduism. In south eastern Uttar Pradesh, on the western bank of Ganges, where the river briefly turns north, has, with certainty, been a city for three thousand years. It was founded at the best ferrying point along this stretch. A physical ferrying point is a tirtha in Hindi. This concept, at the same time, incorporates the meaning of a place where a ¿spiritual crossing¿ can occur, a place of pilgrimage.
For as long as we have known, people have come to Benares to be able to meet the gods, primarily Shiva, but also to die, be cremated and be released from reincarnation. The city is filled with temples and holy places where gods have manifested themselves, and where you can obtain an ¿audience¿, darshana, with them. You meet their gaze and bring your offerings. In circles, the routes of pilgrimage in the city encompass everything, successively, from the holiest sanctum in the innermost temple to the whole region, which is called Kashi by the pilgrims.
The central temple is dedicated to Shiva as "Ruler of the Universe", Vishanatha. As in Stolpe's time it is jammed in, in the dense bazaar settlement, neighbour to the Jnana Vapi mosque. As well as for Hindus, Benares is a holy city to Muslims, Sikhs, Jainists and Buddhists. In the alleys closest to the temple- and mosque areas are those small shops thick on the ground serving the pilgrims. Here you can find incense, rosaries, offerings for the temples, religious texts, colouring matter, and you can buy statuettes that depict the Hindu pantheon. Hjalmar Stolpe must have walked these narrow lanes when making his acquisitions. Just opposite the western entrance to the temple lie shops and workshops where statues of marble or in black and green kinds of stone are hewn, chiselled, polished, often painted and offered to customers. The majority of the artisans as well as the raw material come from Rajasthan. Jaipur Murtiwala ("The statue makers of Jaipur") are probably biggest in the business today and might have been the case also at the time of Stolpe's visit. He bought a number of statues mostly in white painted marble. Among them was the pair of Krishna and Radha.
Krishna is the eighth of the ten avatars, incarnations, of Vishnu. He is loved and worshipped, not least in the form of Hindu religious practice that is called bhakti, where you seek union with the deity through devotion. In the scriptures you can follow Krishna's pranks as a chubby little boy with his hand in the butter jar, and in Bhagavad Gita, a central part of the Mahabharata Epos, you can study his existential expositions. You can follow his amorous escapades with the young girls, gopis, who tended the cows in the Brindavan forest. Radha was the gopi who loved and venerated him most, and to whom he preferred to play his flute, and whom he courted most ardently. (Med världen i Kappsäcken)

1887.08.5172+5173. Function: For as long as we have known, people have come to Benares to be able to meet the gods, primarily Shiva, but also to die, be cremated and be released from reincarnation. The city is filled with temples and holy places where gods have manifested themselves, and where one can obtain an “audience”, darshana, with them. You meet their gaze and bring your offerings. In circles, the routes of pilgrimage in the city encompass everything, successively, from the holiest sanctum in the innermost temple to the whole region, which is called Kashi by the pilgrims. The central temple is dedicated to Shiva as “Ruler of the Universe”, Vishanatha. As in Stolpe’s time it is jammed in, in the dense bazaar settlement, neighbor to the Jnana Vapi mosque. As well as for Hindus, Benares is a holy city for Muslims, Sikhs, Jainists and Buddhists. Hjalmar Stolpe must have walked the narrow lanes of Benares when making his acquisitions. Just opposite the western entrance to the temple lie shops and workshops where statues of marble in black and green kinds of stone are hewn, chisellled, polished, often painted and offered to customers. The majority of the artisans as well as the raw material come from Rajasthan. Jaipur Murtiwala (“The statue makers of Jaipur”) are probably biggest in the business today and might have been the case also at the time of Stolpe’s visit. He bought a number of statues mostly in white painted marble. Among them was the pair of Krishna and Radha.
Acquisition Acquired by Hjalmar Stolpe during his circumnavigation on the ship Vanadis (which he had just left to be able to stay on longer in India). The huge Vanadis collections were first handled separately but were eventually to form one of the original major collections that made up the Ethnographic Museum.
Why this is a masterpiece
The objects may not be “masterpieces” in their own right, but have been chosen because of their meaning and usefulness to the museum.
History of the Object
The objects were fashioned in one of the workshops in old Benares/Varanasi, from which Hjalmar Stolpe acquired them. These shops offer anthropomorphic statues as well as non-anthropomorphic ones (linga for Shiva) which people buy and bring home for private chapels, village temples or temples of a more major kind. (Virtual Collection of Masterpieces, http://masterpieces.asemus.museum/Default.aspx)