Hand-Painted Makrana Marble Saraswati Murti with Gold Shringar, 24in

Saraswati of the temple sanctum

This murti shows Saraswati as she is most often installed in a temple: seated in sukhasana on a tall double lotus, the veena held across her body, her swan carved into the front of the base. She has four arms, two on each side. The front pair play the veena, one hand on the strings and one steadying its neck; the back right hand holds an akshamala and the back left raises a palm-leaf book. Music, practice and learning sit together in one still figure. Her face is young and calm, the eyes softly lowered, with a small tilak and a gentle smile.

The stone and the gold shringar

The figure is carved in Makrana white marble from Nagaur district in Rajasthan, the stone of the Taj Mahal. Its fine, close grain takes small carving cleanly, from the frets and tuning pegs of the veena to the layered petals of the lotus and the feathers of the swan. The painting is planned around her colour, which is white: the sari stays white and is edged with a broad gold border, while the crown, necklaces, armlets and bangles carry the full gold shringar a temple murti is dressed in. Her skin is given a soft warm tone and a single pink lotus is painted at the base. The double lotus plinth and the swan are left in polished natural marble, so the gold sits on the goddess and the stone still shows beneath her.

Size and placement

At 24 inches this is a murti for a temple garbhagriha, an ashram shrine or a large home mandir, where it can be seen clearly from across the room during aarti. The double lotus raises Saraswati well above the platform she is placed on, and the broad round base gives the piece a steady footprint for daily puja. Painted surfaces are best cleaned with a soft dry brush, and abhishek water and kumkum kept to the plinth rather than the painted figure.

For temples, schools and trusts

Saraswati is worshipped on Vasant Panchami, at Saraswati Puja in Bengal and the East, and on the ninth day of Navratri, when books and instruments are set before her. Temple committees, school and college trusts, music academies and ashrams install her as the presiding deity of learning, and a murti of this size suits a dedicated Saraswati shrine within a larger temple as well as a standalone mandir.

Ordering

Tell us where the murti will be installed, the height of the platform and any change you want to the painting, such as a yellow sari for Vasant Panchami or a plain unpainted finish. The workshop in Jaipur will confirm the details and a quote over WhatsApp before carving begins.