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Images
of BHAKTI |
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Bhakti as a form of worship has something
very intimate and even familial about it, with babies and children often
involved |
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Ganesh and the whole Shiva family are a
continuing source of artistic interest |
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Even the more formidable deities, like Durga,
can be devotionally shown as friendly and approachable, and are sometimes
equipped with a family |
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The ultimate bhakta is Hanuman, who actually
tears open his chest to reveal the images of Rama and Sita within. |
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The modern artist M. F. Husain has painted
a whole series of meditations on the figure of Hanuman |
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Nowadays a five-headed form of Hanuman,
which seems to integrate him into the series of avatars of Vishnu, is becoming
popular; and there can be a seven-headed one too |
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Yantras, or attention-focusing diagrams,
can be used to help the devotee meditate |
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Raidas and Ravidas, Matsyendranath and Gorakhnath:
a miniature painting from c.1740-50 |
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Mirabai, in several modern visions |
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Andal, the South Indian counterpart of Mirabai |
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Chaitanya and his faithful follower, Nityananda,
as imagined in 1865 |
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Other depictions of bhakti saints |
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Wandering devotional singers, like the Bauls
of Bengal, are still to be found today |
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