Re-defining and problematizing the identification of kali iconography from a dancer’s headpiece in the collection of LACMA

This essay presents an iconography analysis of the Los Angeles County Museum of ArtKali crown, a dancer's headpiece. Since it can now be identified in two ways, its human form is described as Bhairava in one study and Kali in another, with unacceptable dating. However, neither study discusses the connection between this headpiece and its dance tradition, the character wearing it, the cultural setting, or a potential literary source for learning more about it. Therefore, using the formalist methodology, this study aims to problematize some of the existing logical issues in identifying and dating the same and redefine them in line with the dance tradition to which they belong. It then creates the possibility for new cultic materials within the framework of this forbidding iconographic convergence through its true identification.