Artistic liberty

 

So I revisited the strange picture of the Tantric child goddess Bala Tripura Sundari I found on the web some years ago. Gotta love the AI´s competent art criticism!  

The modern picture I´ve seen of Bala shows her seated on a white lotus, holding white lotuses in two of her hands, the two other hands being free, with a cockatoo on her right shoulder and something that looks like a halo around her head. This doesn´t look traditional.

You're absolutely right to notice that the image you describe of Bala Tripura Sundari does not conform to most traditional iconographic canons of Hindu art—especially those laid out in Shilpa Shastras and Agamas for Sri Vidya deities. Let's break it down and explore where this modern imagery might come from and how it differs from traditional depictions:

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🔍 Breakdown of the Modern Image You Saw

Feature	Notes
White lotus seat	Traditional for purity deities like Saraswati, but Bala is usually depicted seated on a red lotus or golden pedestal.
Holding white lotuses	Symbolizes purity and serenity, but Bala typically holds sugarcane bow, flower arrows, etc.
Cockatoo on chest	Cockatoos are native to Australia and unknown in traditional Indian imagery; their presence suggests a modern artistic or symbolic reinterpretation.
Halo	Halos are sometimes added in modern art to emphasize divinity, but are not a prominent feature in traditional Shakta iconography.

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🎨 Why This Doesn’t Match Traditional Descriptions

Traditional Iconography of Bala Tripura Sundari (from Tantric and Srividya texts):

• Form: A young girl around 9–12 years old, glowing with divine beauty.

• Color: Reddish-pink or golden hue.

• Seat: Seated on a red lotus, symbolizing active Shakti.

• Weapons and Emblems:

  • Sugarcane bow (desire)

  • Five flower arrows (sensory control)

  • Sometimes a lotus or noose

  • Occasionally shown with hand in blessing or gesture of protection

• Companion: No consistent mention of a bird companion, though parrots (especially green parrots) are associated with Tripura Sundari and Kamakshi.

• Surroundings: Sometimes within a Sri Chakra or halo of radiance (tejomandala), but traditional art avoids literal "halos" like in Western art.

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🦜 The Cockatoo Mystery

Possibilities:

• Artist’s Imagination: Given cockatoos are exotic, colorful, and intelligent, an artist may have substituted them for traditional parrots, not knowing the distinction.

• Symbolism: In modern spiritual art, animals are sometimes added for symbolic or aesthetic reasons rather than scriptural fidelity.

• New Age or Syncretic Influence: Some modern depictions of Indian deities are created for global audiences, blending Hindu iconography with other traditions or even fantasy elements.

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✅ How to Recognize Traditional Bala Imagery

Look for the following:

• Seated on a red or pink lotus or golden throne.

• Four arms: sugarcane bow, flower arrows, with gestures like abhaya (fearlessness) and varada (boon-giving).

• Youthful form, no older than 12 years.

• Often shown smiling or in a sweet, tranquil pose.

• Sometimes surrounded by attendants, Sri Chakra, or divine glow.

• Parrot may appear (rare), but not a cockatoo.

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Conclusion

The image you saw is almost certainly a modern or devotional reinterpretation rather than a canonical representation from classical Hindu or Tantric tradition. That said, such images can still be spiritually meaningful, especially in private devotion, provided they don’t distort essential theological meanings.

Would you like to see a collection of traditional depictions of Bala or explore authorized yantras and mantra charts used in her worship?

She also has red nail polish on both her hands and her feet. But her age seems to be correct (a child).

That’s a keen observation—and a telling one. The detail about red nail polish on both hands and feet, combined with a childlike form, places the image you’re describing firmly in the category of modern devotional or artistic reinterpretation, rather than a strictly traditional or Agamic depiction of Bala Tripura Sundari. Let’s unpack that a bit more.

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🔴 Red Nail Polish: Traditional or Modern?

• Traditional Bala imagery emphasizes natural, divine beauty—youthful glow, unadorned or modestly adorned limbs, and symbolic objects (like flower arrows, sugarcane bow).

• Red nail polish is not part of classical iconography, especially for a prepubescent goddess. In fact, in traditional Hindu aesthetics:

  • Nail coloring (like alta on the feet) is used in depictions of adult goddesses, dancers, or brides—symbolizing erotic charm (śṛṅgāra) or auspiciousness.

  • Applying this to a child goddess would not fit older symbolic canons, where innocence (bālya-bhāva) is carefully preserved.

So: this is clearly modern, likely influenced by popular or aestheticized devotional art aimed at evoking sweetness, charm, or familiarity rather than textual accuracy.

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🎨 A Childlike Goddess in Modern Visual Language

Artists in the 20th and 21st centuries have increasingly portrayed deities in relatable or ornamental styles, including:

• Glamorous Saraswati or Lakshmi in sarees not historically accurate.

• Krishna as a baby in bright, Bollywood-style makeup.

• Or, in your case, Bala Tripura Sundari as a child with red nail polish, a white lotus, and a cockatoo.

This is devotional bhava expressed visually—rather than ritually or scripturally.

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👧 But the Child Aspect Is Key—and Traditional

You're absolutely right that her child form is essential.

In Sri Vidya tradition, Bala is:

• A symbol of pure Shakti in its nascent form.

• The beginning of manifestation, the playful divine energy of Lalita before maturity.

• A goddess approachable with innocence and affection—ideal for early-stage sadhakas or those on the path of affectionate devotion (lalita upasana).

• Seen as both a daughter-like and divine friend figure.

So while the modern depiction you saw adds non-traditional elements, its core sentiment—childlike divinity, accessible and sweet—is very faithful to her theological role.

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Summary

Element	Traditional?	Notes
Child form	✅	Core to Bala’s identity in Sri Vidya.
White lotus	❌	Usually red lotus or golden throne.
Red nail polish	❌	Modern aesthetic; not from scriptures.
Cockatoo	❌	Likely a visual metaphor or mistake for parrot.
Halo	❌	Western-style addition; not typical in Shakta art.

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Would you like to contrast this image with Sringeri math paintings, Kamakhya temple imagery, or Tantric yantras used in traditional Bala worship? I can also guide you to authorized iconographic texts (like Shilpa Ratna or Mantra Mahodadhi) that describe her form more accurately.

The mystery of the mosaic

 

Credit: LancerEvolution

Evidence for Roman exploration and conquest in the New World? Probably not, but the topic is fascinating. 

The first link goes to a short piece by Richard Carrier, discussing whether art from Pompeii shows pineapples, an American fruit which (probably) shouldn´t have been known to the Romans. He reaches the conclusion that it´s another delicacy altogether.

I already blogged about the content in the second link (see third link!), but here we go again. The "Roman mosaic" with the South American parrot is with outmost probability a forgery. So nah, the first Italian to reach the Americas probably was a certain Columbus, after all...  

The weird fruit mystery

Mystery of the macaw mosaic - a (not so) Roman riddle

The mystery of the macaw

In leopard country

 

"The Leopard Rocks" is a documentary about leopards living in the Aravalli mountains of Rajasthan in northwestern India. I´m not an expert on leopards, but apparently the big cats in this particular region are unusually gregarious. They live in caves in the hills and supposedly never attack the humans in the area. 

The documentary tries to paint a picture of primitive shephards living in balance with Nature, but this is obviously a truth with some modification. The area is advanced enough to have a large dam providing water during the dry season, the lack of suitable prey animals for the leopards suggests human impact on the surrounding environment, and when leopards sneak into the villages to abduct and kill farm animals, the local business community pays the poor farmers money in compensation so they won´t hunt the leopards. Why? Because of tourism, that´s why. 

The balance around the Leopard Rocks seem very precarious.

Other highlights include Hanuman langurs (yes, they really do live around a temple on one of the rocks), the striped hyena (they, too, are gregarious in this particular region), the mongoose, peacocks, parakeets and antelopes. Frankly, the langurs and the temples were more interesting than the big cats, but that´s me!

End of reflections.    

Cladistic art

 

If you know, you know. 

The mystery of the macaw

Credit: Benjamint444

I´m not an art historian, but my subjective impression after browsing the web and looking at pictures of Roman mosaics is that the one depicted in the linked article is simply "too good". And indeed, the only source as to its provenance claims that it´s a modern forgery made in Tunisia. 

My guess is that the depiction of a blue-and-yellow macaw (a bird only found in South America) is a mistake. The Romans did depict other parrots on their mosaics, so perhaps the Tunisian forger found a picture of a macaw, thought it was nice, and used it, not realizing that this particular species can´t possibly have been known in the Roman Empire.

Unless you believe that the Roman imperial navy discovered South America 1,300 years before the conquistadors...

Not the first time I see an anachronistic parrot, btw. On the web, I found a presumably modern picture of the Hindu deity Bala Tripurasundari, in which the child goddess has a cockatoo on her shoulder, a bird not native to India! But sure, I suppose *it* could have been imported from Indonesia.       

The mystery of the macaw

Called it

I know this is highly subjective, but I´m beginning to like cladistics. You know, that annoying shit which has created havoc in the evolutionary tree we all learned in senior high science class circa 1985. With some help, I might add, from the phylogenetic species concept (still don´t like that one) and the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy of birds (which does make sense). 

I always suspected that starlings were really a kind of petty crows, and yepp, you guessed it, Sibley and my man Jon did prove that sturnids and corvids should really be treated as the same family. Indeed, if Anatomically Modern Man disappears, the next intelligent (and highly destructive) ruler of this space rock will probably be...Sturnus vulgaris, hell bent on a campaign of extermination against crows, gulls and, I suppose, anatomically less modern men. Of course it´s a bloody corvid. 

As for cladistix, one clade that certainly makes sense is the Eufalconimorphae, within which falcons are grouped with passerines and parrots, meaning (of course) that falcons are *not* closely related to hawks, eagles or the highly aberrant stork known as "California condor". No surprise there, I always thought falcons looked more similar to said parrots, rather than to raptors of the diurnal persuasion. 

Now, it has come to my quality attention that some prominent cladisticians have proposed the existence of a *huge* clade known as Pancrustacea, regrouping both insects and crustaceans. Bingo! All my life, I wondered about the sinister similarity between the half-dead crayfish at my parents´ dinner table and the Insecta in our backyard, now I know the reason why, thank you. 

I have stopped worrying, and learned how to love cladograms. Yeah, really. 

Check out the checklist

Just when you thought the show was over…

“Handbook of the Birds of the World” (HBW) is a 17-volume encyclopedia describing all living species of birds. It seems the editors just can't part with this project, since supplemental works are still being published. This is the first volume of “Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World”, covering the non-passerines. A second volume, featuring the passerines, will be published later this year. Despite its name, the “checklist” isn't a traditional, boring, scientists-only textual mass of Latin names. Rather, it's a kind of super-summary of the 17-volume HBW, complete with species presentations (albeit shorter ones than in the original work), range maps and color illustrations. The main reason for rinsing and repeating everything one more time seems to be that it *isn't* a straightforward rehash.

The editors have apparently applied a new method for defining species, associated with Joseph Tobias, to the world's avifauna. Rather than looking at the DNA evidence, the new species concept is based on morphology and bird behavior (including bird song). This has led to substantial changes in the taxonomy. Among non-passerines, there have been 462 splits and only 30 lumps, presumably meaning that 432 new species have been added to the list, all of them described and illustrated in the Checklist. Say hello to the Snow Mountain Tiger Parrot, Butterfly Coquette and Lompobattang Fruit-dove! In an article on the web, the HBW-cum-Checklist editors forthrightly admit that the recognition of many new species has obvious consequences for conservation efforts, including larger amounts of grant money for the scientists involved in the conservation…

Another new feature of the Checklist is that it (finally) describes and illustrates (if at all possible) extinct birds, including the Great Auk and the Dodo. The total number of extant bird species covered in this first volume is 4,372 plus 99 extinct species. It will be interesting to see if Lynx Edicions manages to squeeze all passerines into a second volume as promised, or if yet another jumbo-sized book is waiting in the wings…

I'm not sure who would want to buy “The Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World”, but if you found the 17th (index) volume of the HBW incredibly boring, I suppose this could be just what you were looking for.

Five stars!

Coolest field guide on the block

This is apparently the original edition of "Birds of Britain and Europe with North Africa and the Middle East", written by Hermann Heinzel, Richard Fitter and John Parslow. In 1995, the book was substantially re-written, and essentially morphed into another book. I happen to have a copy of the Swedish translation of the 1972 edition, and yes, it sure could need a rebind!

As a kid, I considered Heinzel-Fitter-Parslow to be the coolest birdbook around, much cooler than Bruuns and Singers book "Birds of Britain and Europe". For starters, it contained more species, since it also included North Africa, Turkey and parts of the Middle East. I particularly enjoyed the Hypocolius and the Ring-Necked Parakeet, LOL. The book also included more subspecies, with a penchant for those living on the Canary Island, the Azores, and Madeira. Did I mention the Parakeet? Thus, it was a perfect book to show your kiddie friends. Or showing off.

Later, I realized that "real" bird-watchers actually preferred Bruun and Singer, while poor Heinzel et.al. were hardly ever mentioned in any context, at least not here in Sweden. I also noticed that the Swedish translation contained some curious misprints. Some birds on the plates are never mentioned in the actual text (a humorous error - usually the opposite is the case in bird books), some maps are missing, etc. If the book is good or bad as a field guide to birds, I honestly don't know. I told my parents to buy it, only to have the flashiest birdbook in the neighborhood. :-D

BTW, I noticed that the new 1995 edition looks more like Bruun's and Singer's book, which is almost tantamount to HIGH TREASON. LOL! However, it contains more parakeets, so perhaps I should let it pass...

OK, sorry for this nostalgia trip, but I just couldn't help myself.

;-)

The problem with parrots

“Parrot Confidential” is an interesting, perhaps even important, documentary about how humans manhandle parrots (pun intended). Stolen from their nests in the tropics, parrots are sent to pet shops in the Western countries, bought by “bird-lovers” and then discarded, unless saved by the enthusiasts who run rescues or sanctuaries, often at considerable costs for themselves. Of course, some people who buy parrots love their little wards and are forced to abandon them due to foreclosure or other personal tragedies. Many others, however, are simply influenced by the latest fashion trend and then loose interest in the poor birds. Two former breeders interviewed on the program disclose that their business boomed due to the TV series “Baretta”, which features a detective and his cool cockatoo. In real life, cockatoos may be the most demanding pet parrots! They also live as long as a human. While parrots *are* cool (one of the birds featured in the program can dance to reggae!), this documentary is a strong argument for banning parrots as pets altogether. Unfortunately, that might be impossible as long as the demand for colorful cage birds is still strong…

Parroting postmodernism

A review of "Parrot (Reaktion Books - Animal) by Paul Carter. 

"Parrot" is a soliloquy of incomprehensible, postmodern drivel. The positive reviews must have been written by parrots. Sure, the pictures are fine, but that's about it. If you want real information on the cultural significance of parrots, please read "Parrot Culture" by Bruce Thomas Boehrer. Richard Verdi's exhibition catalogue "The Parrot in Art" is a good complement to Boehrer's book.

Forget about this one. :-(

These birds don´t need a closer introduction

This is volume 4 of the truly Brobdingnagian "mother of all birdbooks", the Handbook of the Birds of the World. Known as the HBW for short, this 16-volume work took almost 20 years to publish, and apparently a supplement which is still waiting in the wings (pun intended). The total price of the entire series is about 4,200 dollars!

Obviously, the HBW is mostly intended for well-funded libraries and research institutions. In contrast to regular reference works, however, the HBW contains a lot of truly spectacular photos (all of them in color), plus illustrations of all described species (also in color). I'm not sure if this combination of commercial appeal and super-scientific contents makes any kind of sense, but clearly *somebody* is buying it, since the editors were allowed to finish their work. As we speak, they are busy preparing a Handbook of the Mammals of the World!

This particular volume of the HBW covers the following orders: Sandgrouse, Pigeons and Doves, Cockatoos and Parrots, Turacos and Cuckoos. With the possible exception of the Sandgrouse, these birds hardly need a closer introduction.

As usual, the HBW deserves five stars, although I must once again warn the general reader about the non-popularized character of this work and the exorbitant price. However, if you have an advanced interest in birds (and a lot of money!) don't worry, you won't feel cuckolded if you really do buy one of these...

You can´t parrot this book

Usually, scientific reference works are all text and few pictures. "Parrots of the World" take the opposite approach: all pictures and very little text.

I don't think serious biology students would be very happy about this book. However, if you want to impress your friends, it's perfect. Put it on your coffee table, place it prominently on a bookshelf or opposite your parrot cage, for the best effect. If you're really daring, buy a copy for your kids (not the smallest ones) and tell them to make colorful drawings of the parrots in the book. Just don't give it to your pet parrot!

:-D

"Parrots of the World" illustrates all known species of parrot, and many subspecies as well. However, it doesn't illustrate the various mutations bred in captivity. "Only" wild parrots are included. There are range maps of each species and short description of their habits and habitat. Some extinct species are also illustrated on the color plates.

I bought the book mostly to flash. But no, I don't regret it. However, those who want a more meaty work on parrots should probably invest in a copy of "Handbook of the Birds of the World, Vol. 4, Sandgrouse to Cuckoos", which also includes a extensive section on parrots.

A cracker, anyone?

Of mice, men and parrots

Bruce Thomas Boehrer is both a literature professor and a parrot lover. This makes him eminently qualified to write a book about the cultural impact of parrots on Western art, literature and imagination. Frankly, I assumed Boehrer was British, and was surprised to learn that he's a professor in Florida who spent part of his childhood in El Paso, Texas! Somehow, his knowledge of world literature and his writing skills sound more...well, European. Or am I just being prejudiced? His revulsion to animal cruelty in general and psittacophagy in particular also sound very British.

Boehrer's book "Parrot culture" isn't the easiest read around. Often, it does sound like a college lecture in literature, and the author even ventures into the risky world of art criticism. Yet, somehow it never becomes *really* boring, perhaps because of the subject-matter. Parrots, after all, are intrinsically interesting: exotic, common, intelligent and stupid, all at the same time, in a bewildering combination. As a kid, one of my best friends had an assortment of budgies ("parakeets"), and I remember thinking that they were really silly, since they couldn't talk. The quiet hyacinth macaw in the local pet store I considered even sillier, since it didn't even scream! And what is a parrot that can't talk, or scream, if not redundant? So much for my scientific objectivity...

But on to the book. The first European to describe parrots was a certain Ktesias of Cnidus around 398 BC. Ktesias had seen Indian parrots in Persia, and correctly described their ability to mimic human speech: "It talks like a man in Indian, but if taught Greek can talk in Greek also". Few people, if any, believed him. It wasn't until the conquests of Alexander the Great that parrots became more widely known in the Greek world. We even know what species Alexander sent back to Greece: the Alexandrine parakeet. Aristotle described the bird, and the rest is history.

Boehrer then describes how European cultures viewed the parrot, and how these notions changed. The Greco-Roman world saw parrots in many different ways: as a symbol of inferior humans, as comic relief, as near-divine. During the Middle Ages, few parrots reached Europe, and yet the parrot became an important religious symbol, associated with the Virgin Mary, the Garden of Eden, or God himself. During the Renaissance, the parrot was secularized and turned into an object of ridicule and spite. In Baroque art, the parrot becomes a symbol for native lands to be colonized, or simply a luxurious accessorie, and in Early Modern plays, parrots once again symbolize social and racial inferiority. Being compared to a parrot becomes an insult.

During the 19th century, the parrot was often a symbol of the sentimental, and pet parrots became increasingly popular. Boehrer also believes that a morbid fascination with dead animals characterized the period, and his verbal execution of the great naturalist and bird-painter Audubon is particularly entertaining (and very British).

The last chapter of the book takes us into the modern world. The author interviews environmental activists, writes about his own fascination with parrots, and even talks to a parrot smuggler! The smuggler was apparently imprisoned for trying to smuggle a couple of Australian parrots to the US, all the while the Australian government is busy exterminating thousands of parrots themselves. Who is most absurd, the human or the parrot, one wonders?

Amazon has coupled this book with Richard Verdi's "The Parrot in Art", a good choice in my opinion. Verdi's book is really an exhibition catalogue, and while the text is much shorter than Boehrer's book, the paintings are reproduced in full color (Boehrer's book shows some of the same paintings, but in black-and-white, and smaller size). Thus, the two books nicely complement each other.