Lajjā Gaurī

One of the names given to a fertility goddess (others include ‘shy woman’, and ‘shameless woman’), possibly of tribal origin, but incorporated into Hindu worship through a pan-Indian iconography (notable examples occurring in Orissa and the Deccan). She is most frequently represented naked, with her legs drawn up, as though she were giving birth, or sexually receptive. Her hands hold lotus buds, touching the open lotus which replaces her head.