Indian Kavadi Tamil Nadu 17th-18th C

Wood carved Hindu deity group, or Kavadi panel originally carried on the shoulders of devotees of Murugan from the Kavadi Attam or Burden Dance. A dance of physical burden that the dancers partake as a way of asking for help , usually for a family member. These Kavadi panels are shaped like the openings or doors of a south Indian temple, known as a Gopuram.  This group is probably carved of the wood of the Mahwa tree (illupal in Tamil). Tamil Nadu, India 17th/ 18th century.