Identifying Hindu/Buddhist Statue

[Hamelyn]

Greetings all.

In my crazy travels of the Muslim world, I discovered a pair of beautiful statues for sale. I only had the money for one of them... the one I did NOT purchase I did some research on. It appears to be a statue of Naga Kanya- I found an article with a picture of the same statue on asianart.com thanks to our friend Google. This one's wing is broken, unfortunately, but the rest of it's in fairly good shape.

The statue I DID buy is unique in my eyes. It's unmistakably Hindu/Buddhist, but it's a little... odd. It has the frozen-in-motion appearance such art often has, and the clothing (complete with crazy conical hat) fits. But the woman has only two arms, and wrapping around one arm, down her leg, and rising up again from the floor so that its head is near the knees, is a cobra. And nothing else. No lotus, no drum, not fire, no arcane hand gestures or anything like that. She's just... standing there. Not sitting, no cushion, just standing.

Who the heck is this a statue of? Any clues?

[Toby Stimpson]

Hmmm, It might be easier if you could show us a pic?

By the sounds of it, it might be Thai or Balinese. South East Asian art is similar in some ways to Indian... but with a bit more fluidity.

[Agaliha]

Yes, pics if you can take them would really help ;)
It's hard for me to really visualize it without seeing it.

Also, are you sure it's female? I've seem many Eastern statues of males that look very feminine or androgynous. It's possible it's a male.

[Toby Stimpson]

Yes, pics if you can take them would really help ;)
It's hard for me to really visualize it without seeing it.

Also, are you sure it's female? I've seem many Eastern statues of males that look very feminine or androgynous. It's possible it's a male.

Especially Nepali/Tibetan statues. The faces with the large closed eyes and petite mouths look in some ways very feminine.

[Hamelyn]

It's definitely female. It has breasts. And I can't take a picture until January, drat! Thanks for the leads, though!

[Baobabtree]

Namaste Hamelyn.

Now it doesn't look too much like the deity you described, but I recall seeing a statue of the Hindu goddess Ratri, that reminded me of the goddess you described. Unfortunately I;'m unable to find this exact statue, but there is a similar looking statue here http://www.dharma-store.com/merchant.ihtml?pid=117&lastcatid=23&step=4

[Toby Stimpson]

hmmm... it doesn't look like this does it?? :

[Agaliha]

Both look like good guesses. I know of some sites with Eastern statues that I'll skim though to see if anything stands out.

[Philosophia]

Is this something like it?
http://www.lotussculpture.com/10b6parvati.htm

[Hamelyn]

Yes, that's very similar. Still, I don't know enough about the culture and art to figure out how much importance to place on the lack of or inclusion of certain symbols like the snake, lotus, etc. Beautiful pictures, by the way, thanks. :)