Material and Spiritual Abundance in the Kathmandu Valley

Throughout the Himalayas, the accumulation of material wealth has been important to the survival of spiritual and ritual practice. As the Buddhist goddess of prosperity, Vasudhara is associated with material and spiritual abundance (fig. 1). She shares parallels with Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth, in addition to the earth goddess, Bhu Devi. Her name, “Bearer of Treasure,” associates Vasudhara with a host of deities who assist individuals with cultivating material and spiritual fortune. While her two-armed form more frequently appears in India and Tibet, it is her six-armed manifestation that is dominant among the Newar community of the Kathmandu Valley. For Newar Buddhists, this form of Vasudhara emphasizes her association with rice cultivation and the agricultural bounty provided by the fertile soil of the valley.1 She is also one of the most popular deities worshipped by families in home shrines to ensure success in business and at home. Moreover, for Nepal’s Newar Buddhist community, the six-armed form of Vasudhara emphasizes her close connection to agricultural wealth and spiritual abundance rooted in the sacred geography of the Kathmandu Valley. Completed in the late twelfth to thirteenth century, with some scholars suggesting an even earlier date in the eleventh or twelfth century, this bronze is a visual testimony to the exquisite metalworking traditions (fig. 2) active in the Kathmandu Valley during this period.2 

Newar Stylistic Considerations

Notable for its elegant form and graceful positioning of the torso and six arms, Vasudhara was created during the late Transitional or Thakuri period (ca. 878 to ca. 1200 CE) or Early Malla period (ca. 1200–1482). Her eyes, nose, and mouth are set low on the face, and her wide forehead supports a large bejeweled crown. The shell-like foliage motif (samkhapatra) behind her ears balances the large crown on her head.3 Her hair is tied into two buns at the back. She wears a diaphanous garment that is gathered on her left shoulder and drapes across her torso. As typical for Newar sculptures from this period, she has a narrow waist, small bosom, and an elongated torso. A girdle hugs her hips, as the folds of her lower garment cascade down the front of the figure, framing her right leg. Larger than the earliest known dated depiction of Vasudhara from 1082 (fig. 3), this piece allows for more refined details in the adornments. The goddess wears a short necklace, matching armbands, bracelets, and large multitiered inlaid earrings. She presents a sweetly smiling expression, with a full lower lip, slightly upturned mouth, and a full, round face. While signifying her youth and vitality, these visual traits of Vasudhara emerge as key stylistic features associated with Newar sculptural styles from this period. Most notably, the sweetly smiling expression and elongated torso distinguish Newar works from other regional styles.

Iconographic Considerations: Material and Spiritual Abundance

Vasudhara is a golden goddess, usually depicted with a yellow or gold complexion.4 While the original metal dominates her visual appearance, surviving traces of gold on this sculpture suggest it was once fully gilded. She sits in a posture of royal ease (Lalitasana), with her right leg outstretched and supported by a lotus pedestal base, with her left leg resting bent beneath her. The base that would have originally supported this image has been lost. The work was most likely originally installed on a metal or stone base and, judging from its size, would have served as a primary deity in a shrine. 

Vasudhara’s upper hands express spiritual bounty. The upper right hand is open and outstretched near her ear, making a gesture associated with praising or greeting the buddhas (tathagata vandana mudra), while the upper left hand holds a copy of The Perfection of Wisdom (Prajnaparamita) Sutra. This attribute connects Vasudhara with the Buddhist goddess Prajnaparamita, “The Mother of All Buddhas,” and alludes to her role as the source of the dharma and upholder of the knowledge of all the buddhas (vidyadaneshvareshvari).5 

Her four lower hands are associated with the more secular aspects of her lay devotional worship in Nepal. Vasudhara’s center left hand holds a sheath of rice (dhanya manjari), symbolizing the source of wealth, while the lower holds a vase filled with folige (purna ghata kalasha), symbolizing abundance. Her center right hand holds a sheath of cascading jewels (ratna manjari) and her lower left hand displays the gesture of bountiful giving (varada mudra). The wealth she grants to those who venerate her has implications in this lifetime and in lives to come. Further, this visual arrangement establishes a parallel between the cascading sheath of rice and the cascading sheath of jewels.

For Newars in the Kathmandu Valley, rice is wealth. Rice feeds the family, sustains the religious community, and facilitates the salt trade with Tibet. Rice is the primary offering given during ritual feasts and celebrations. The agricultural abundance of the Kathmandu Valley is directly tied to the cultivation of rice in the fertile lowlands of the valley floor, sustained by the summer monsoon rains. By the latter half of the Licchavi period (ca. 300–ca. 879 CE), the Kathmandu Valley and surrounding foothills were known regionally for their rich, fertile soil, which supported the production of rice, millet, and buckwheat. By the Thakuri period, well-established trade routes tied together trade between Tibet, Nepal, and northern India. Thus, when images of Vasudhara began to appear with more frequency in the Kathmandu Valley during the eleventh century, it coincided with the growing social and economic importance of rice cultivation. Vasudhara’s connection to rice and the annual rice harvest fostered a rich devotional following related to the goddess in the Kathmandu Valley. A successful harvest of rice, transplanted to flooded fields in June and harvested in November, could establish an individual family’s wealth and allow for surplus trade with communities living at higher elevations, most notably Tibet.6

Ritual Legacy

Because of Vasudhara’s associations with the harvest, each fall she is honored during a two-day devotional ritual (vrata) known as Gatila or Tila, through both individual and collective veneration.7 This event typically takes place in September, before the rice harvest in November, to ensure success and abundance. Elaborate mandala offerings to the goddess are part of her communal veneration in the courtyards of Newar monasteries (baha, bahi) (fig. 4). While both men and women may participate in the observance of Gatila, the primary participants are women, who often wear yellow garments during these rites to affirm their connection to the golden goddess. Small images of Vasudhara commonly appear in home shrines, where her veneration is performed for the spiritual benefit (punya) of the family. There are also numerous shrines dedicated to Vasudhara throughout the Kathmandu Valley that reaffirm her central importance to the Mahayana-Vajrayana practices of the Newar community.

Among Vasudhara’s epithets is “Perfectly Generous One” (danaparamita), directly attesting to her connection with acts of giving (dana) and cultivating generosity. From her earliest known appearance in Nepal in the eleventh century, her popularity continued to flourish throughout the Malla period (ca. 1200–1769) and Shah dynasty (1769–2008). The most common text associated with her veneration in the Kathmandu Valley is known as the Vasundhararoddhesha. This ritual manual outlines the role Vasudhara plays in sustaining the vitality of the Buddhist lineage. Buddhist merchants are encouraged to venerate Vasudhara annually during the Buddhist holy month of Gunla, typically in July or August, and members of the monastic community are also encouraged to participate in order to cultivate auspicious wealth. In some cases, monasteries establish trusts (guthi) to ensure the annual performance of Vasudhara rituals. Historical accounts of Vasudhara’s power to provide for those that honor her illustrate the use of wealth to sustain Buddhist ritual traditions and support monastic institutions.8 

The singular importance of Vasudhara to the Newar community is attested by the numerous recordings of her ritual worship illustrated in surviving Newar cloth paintings (paubha) that commemorate her veneration. One example, the Vasudhara mandala (fig. 5), dated 1777, demonstrates how the six-armed form of Vasudhara venerated in the Kathmandu Valley remains consistent, despite other variations of Vasudhara in Tibet that are two-armed or shown with an accompanying male deity. Here, Vasudhara, placed in the center, is surrounded by the deities of her mandala. Directly below the central mandala of the goddess, at the bottom of the painting, is a register of decoration depicting the ritual veneration (vrata) of Vasudhara. Here, worshippers flank a central white stupa. Noticeable to the left of the stupa is a Newar Buddhist Vajracharya priest wearing his distinctive gilt-bronze ritual crown facilitating the rituals in front of a fire altar (fig. 6). The visual parallels between the venerative traditions of the past and present are striking. As Miranda Shaw has noted, “There is no inherent conflict between wealth and gnosis in the Buddhist worldview, for property may well serve the persons and institutions engaged in the pursuit of wisdom.”9 The stability of Vasudhara’s form, which has remained a consistent presence in Newar artistic and ritual practice since the eleventh century, reaffirms her central importance to the Buddhist community in the Kathmandu Valley.