How the same Gods change their look from one place to another

Defence minister Manohar Parrikar's astute observation about the diminutive size of the eyes of Indian idols made in China begs the question whether provenance affects countenance — and if that really matters, considering that does not seem to affect sales of those idols in India. True, for many decades, popular iconography has been influenced by the romantic doe-eyed visages painted by Raja Ravi Varma. But there is no vouchsafing that his imagery was any more true to the 'original' features of the divinities than those visualised beyond the Karakoram. After all, the transformation of the Virgin Mary into an alabaster-white, blonde, blueeyed Caucasian Madonna from an olive-skinned, dark-eyed Levantine brunette is testimony to the human tendency to see gods and goddesses in their own image.

So, it was not surprising that German porcelain companies did much the same to Indian idols mass-manufactured in their factories a century ago. It is also noteworthy that Indians accepted those distinctly westernised representations with the same alacrity back then as they show in snapping up Chinese ones today. Clearly, Indian buyers are probably more Catholic in their tastes than Mr Parrikar suspects, and may not necessarily pay heed to a ‘buy only Indian(-looking)' initiative tagged on to the Make in India campaign.