This exhibition commemorates the generous gift of Dr. Carol Radcliffe Bolon’s photographic documentation of the goddess Lajja Gauri to the American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS). Dr. Bolon’s documentation sheds light on the identity, the distinct iconographic forms, and functions of the goddess Lajja Gauri. The collection is unique as it is not only the most comprehensive study on the topic but also asserts the importance of a goddess in a widespread cult whose imagery culminated in the eleventh century and is seldom referred to in texts. The images were first published in Dr. Bolon’s book Forms of the Goddess Lajja in Indian Art. The collection along with Dr. Bolon’s commentary is valuable to understand the development of the goddess’s iconography and worship tradition. This exhibition has been curated by Stuti Gandhi ,CA&A,  AIIS and Dr. Carol Bolon.

Dr. Bolon is a scholar of Indian art and former Curator of South Asian Art, Freer and Sackler Galleries, Smithsonian Institution. She has been a senior fellow of AIIS.