Crossroads of Curiosity

"The Koh-i-Noor"

 

David Normal:

 

The Koh-i-Noor diamond gives a crystalline form to the great planetary orb that dominates the upper-right side of the composition.  Centuries before the Koh-i-Noor was one of the British Crown Jewels, it was the left eye of the Hindu Goddess Bhadrakali in the temple devoted to her worship in Warangal, India. It is said that the Koh-i-Noor only sparkles when the light hits it just the right way, and one wonders if in that ancient Hindu temple a shaft of light from the rising sun on the Vernal Equinox might not have lit it in such a powerful way that the idol of the Goddess seemed to awake.  

 

Image taken from page 61 of 'Wonderland, or, Curiosities of Nature and Art' Collection of the British Library.

View illustration on British Library's Flickr Photostream

 

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