Ganga-Jamuna lota

 Ganga-Jamuna lota

    The lota or indigenous water vase                      

This combination of both brass and copper is uniquely Indian and is dubbed Ganga-Jamuna, a poetic reference to the contrasting colours of the water of the Ganges and Jamuna rivers. The Jumna is the longest tributary river of the Ganges in northern India. It travels a length of 1,376 kilometres (855 miles) before merging with the Ganges at Triveni Sangam, Allahabad, the site for the massive Kumbha Mela festival every twelve years.

    This pot is of brass and decorated with the copper strip.This lota is almost 200 years old.This lota is art piece of mughal carving.    

It is the longest river in India that does not directly flow into the sea. The water of one has a slight yellow hue on account of he alluvial mud suspended in its waters, whilst that of the other has a reddish hue, and so in this vessel, the two rivers are represented by yellowish brass and reddish copper, with the combination in the one vessel being symbolic of their merging and mixing at Triveni Sangam.

The lota is shorter and broader than the tall and narrow ewer. These ornate vases with wide necks and high shoulder profiles were made to lustrate large idols in religious ceremonies. Their shapes are similar to the big brass water pots which are still seen today in rural India, carried by women on their heads to and from wells along country roads.The lota in its purest form was a simple sphere. Even when it has a handle, spout or foot, it is always lower and larger than the ewer. Since many of these globular objects are ridged or fluted like melons, we can assume that the earliest water vases were fruit that was hollowed out. This botanical form determined the shape of not only the lota but also the huqqa (water pipe).