Lalitasana is a pose or mudra in Indian art and the art of dharmic religions in other countries. It is often called "the royal position" or "royal ease" in English, and is a relaxed pose typical in royal portraits and those of religious figures whose "kingly" attributes are being emphasized. The figure sits on a throne with one leg tucked inwards on the seat and the other hanging down ("pendent") to touch the ground or rest on a support. Usually it is the proper right leg that dangles, but the reversed image can be found. Bare feet are normal. Asana is a general term for a seated pose, from Sanskrit: आसन āsana "sitting down", a sitting posture, a seat.
Shiva, Chola bronze, 12th-century
Chinese wooden Guanyin in "royal ease" pose, Song dynasty
Brahma, 7th-century, Aihole
King and queen in Jataka scene of an earlier life of the Buddha, c. 200, from Ghantasala
An āsana is a body posture, originally and still a general term for a sitting meditation pose, and later extended in hatha yoga and modern yoga as exercise, to any type of position, adding reclining, standing, inverted, twisting, and balancing poses. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali define "asana" as "[a position that] is steady and comfortable". Patanjali mentions the ability to sit for extended periods as one of the eight limbs of his system. Asanas are also called yoga poses or yoga postures in English.
Asanas in varied contexts. Left to right, top to bottom: Eka Pada Chakrasana; Ardha Matsyendrasana; Padmasana; Navasana; Pincha Mayurasana; Dhanurasana; Natarajasana; Vrkshasana; Yashtikasana
Mould of Pashupati seal from the Indus Valley civilization, c. 2500 BC, its central figure in a pose resembling Mulabandhasana.
A page from Patanjali's Yoga Sutras and Bhasya commentary (c. 2nd to 4th century CE), which placed asana as one of the eight limbs of classical yoga
Relief statue in Achyutaraya temple, Hampi, Karnataka showing an unidentified hand-balancing asana, 16th century