Sculptures of Navadurga of National Museum: Illustrative Terracotta Art of Nepal

: This paper deals with the terracotta sculptures of Navadurga of National Museum. According to Hindu religious texts Shailaputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kusmanda, Skandamata, Katyayani, Kalaratri, Mahagauri and Siddhadatri are the nine manifested forms of goddess Durga or Gauri or Parvati, especially worshipped during the festival of Navaratri where each of the nine manifested forms is consecutively venerated throughout all the nine nights. There are some noteworthy illustrations of Nepalese terracotta art in different museums in Nepal. Out of them, Navadurga icons of national museum are considered as the important specimen in terms of religion, culture, style, skill and technology. In these terracotta images the figures of Shailaputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kusmanda, Skandamata, Katyayani, Kalaratri, Mahagauri and Siddhadatri have been sculptured very beautifully. This paper has been prepared to explore the authentic facts regarding on what are the major iconographic features of the sculptures? and to examine why these sculptures are considered as the importance terracotta art heritage of Nepal? It is based on qualitative approach because it has been prepared on the basis of qualitative data rather than quantitative one. Researcher has used both primary and secondary data in this study. Primary data have been collected by doing field survey in national museum while essential secondary information were collected from journals, books and electronic versions of different sources.