Day 114 - Children's protector goddess


December 27, 2018

Gallery 248 is tiny, with only two cases, one displaying Cambodian stoneware containers from the 11th and 12th centuries, the other an Indonesian terracotta from the 14th or 15th century.  I suppose the former case didn't fit easily into the next gallery, which centers on statuary from the Angkor period.  Some of the containers assume fanciful forms: an elephant, a chicken, a rabbit. Who knew there were rabbits in Cambodia? 

The terracotta, today's object, is perhaps 20 inches high and depicts Men Brajut, the Javanese version of the Hindu goddess Hariti, protector of children. She kneels on one knee, her other knee raised. She appears to be weaing a sarong tied beneath her large, bare breasts; she also wears what seems to be a leaf-shaped pendant necklace and rosette-shaped ornaments above her ears, so that the image presents human and vegetal forms of life. Her square-ish face is full-cheeked.  She is the protector of children, and her breasts signal adult status, but her face looks like that of a child.The small figure of a child kneels between her legs, and the remnants of another child's arms clutch her left shoulder. The rest of that child, the head of the kneeling child, and Men Brajut's arms have all been lost. 

The figure makes me feel sad. I have never had large, womanly breasts. Far more significant, the figure is a reminder of my own childlessness. I try to console myself with the idea that Men Brajut is not the goddess of pregnant women or of childbirth, but rather, assumes a protective role toward children. Maybe I could say that, through my tutoring and other activities, I have done a bit of that.

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