Sarasvati

Keshava Temple, Somnathpur

Sarasvati plays the vina; additional arms bear an elephant goad (ankusha, middle right arm), rosary (upper right arm), and book (upper left arm). The goddess's fingers and thumbs are heavily beringed. Her vina and book, the latter usually interpreted as a copy of the Vedas, establishes Sarasvati as goddess of poetry and the arts.

The goddess's rosary is not carved into individual beads, but instead is formed as a continuous band. In her middle left hand she is holding a nagapasha, an entwined double snake noose; my thanks to Sridhar Padmanabhan for this identification.