Brahmani

Madhya Pradesh, 11th century
Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay

This female form of Brahma sports the usual three heads and other attributes of the creator god, surrounded by through-carved figures of females and mythical animals. Her ribbon running from knee to knee may represent a yoga band (an aid to maintaining a yoga posture), although the usual posture with a yoga band would be cross-legged rather than spread-legged as here.