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CHAPTER 301
MURAL PAINTINGS
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FIG. XXV. Sittannavasal: a painted royal couple figure of dancer from Barabudur,' the hastas arranged exactly as in the Sittannavasal painting, which shows how happy and pleasant is this composition of the hands in danda and patāka in the portrayal of a dance-figure.
The other danseuse on a pillar (plate 260A), with the left hand stretched out in joy, matalli, and the right in patāka, with the whole body swaying in lovely flexion (plate 260B; fig. XXIV), cannot but remind one of the figures of Bāla-Kroņa or Bāla-Subrahmanya dancing in sheer joy. The elaborate coiffure, with flowers and pearls, and simple but effective ornamental decoration, along with the graceful figure itself, composing this beautiful feminine theme, make it a masterpiece of the Pandyan painter's brush.
There is also a delightful portrait of a king and queen conversing with a Jaina monk, which has partially survived, to illustrate the highly technical perfection of the painter in managing portraiture, the viddha-citra type, as it is known in the Citra-sútra, a text on painting. The delightful crown of the prince and the effective dressed coiffure of the queen (fig. XXV) perfectly match each other and are a contrast to the simple unadorned monk in front of them.
C. Sivaramamurti, le Stăpa du Barabudur, Paris, 1961, plate XII, 1.
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