Jignasa Journal Of History Of Ideas And Culture Part 02

Author(s): Vibha Upadhyaya and Others
Publisher: University of Rajasthan

Page 32

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Jijñāsā
The paintings in Adalat Wādā at Satara or the ones at the wādā of Nana Phadnis at Menāwali display the round body frames. The paintings at Satara were done "when the Rajasthani influence had declined". Sir James Mickintosh, Recorder of the Bombay Court and the one who paid a visit to Peshwa Bajirao II in 1805 also gave an evidence of the wall-paintings in Shaniwārwādā saying that the walls were painted with scenes of Hindu mythology." The same wall-paintings, in the writing of Lt. Col. Fitzclarence who visited Pupe on the 31 January 1818 after the Battle of Khadki, reflect a melancholic tone. He says, "The walls of an inner court are miserably daubed with the Hindoo mythology, elephants and horsemen." The wall paintings thus were an attempt to create the prototypes of the ones existing in the northern structures that the Maratha sardars had seen in course of their campaigns.
During the Peshwa times the wall-paintings display a curious fusion of the miniatures of Rajasthan with the contemporary social life of Maharashtra. If for the illustrated pothis the Marathas looked to Udaipur, Jaipur school of Rajasthani miniature became the model of the Peshwas and the Maratha sardars for painting on the walls. The Palatial house of Shaniwārvādā, originally built by Peshwa Bajirao I, got extended during the rule of Peshwa Nanasaheb he added a hall, virtually a museum named as Ranga Mahal. It was decorated with the miniature wall-paintings or with the paintings fitted in frames attached to the walls. Bhojraj, a renowned artist of Jaipur was invited for executing the work of painting in the wädä. Traditionally, a class of artists known as chitaris in Maharashtra used to undertake the work of painting on the walls. The chitaris who were from both Hindu and Muslim communities also did the work of producing the mukhautes or masks of the human and animal faces. The names of some of the painters as in the historical records are Ragho, Tanhaji and Anuprao. Jivāji Ganesh Khasgiwale had written to Peshwa Nanasaheb about the order that the Peshwa had made for the painting of Devasabha and Ganesh Parvat. He further stated that the paintings were done by the excellent chitaris or painters Ragho, Tanhaji and Anuprao. The chitaris were wellversed, as Khasgiwale informed, in the work of plastering, colouring, and doing the wall paintings. Raghunathrao wished to get the work of wall painting done in his wāda at Trimbak for which he asked Nana Phadnis to send an artist named Mankoji. The same artist was commissioned for drawing the frescoes on the walls of Raghunathrao's wādā at Anandavalli near Nasik. The themes included Krishna and his ashtanāyikās or eight heroines. The fusion as is seen through the paintings is that the gopis that were originally painted in Rajasthani attire in the Rajasthani paintings were portrayed as draped in the typical Maharashtrian nine yard sarees in the wädä paintings. They were also shown as wearing the ornaments of the Brahmin women. These included bindi (a hair ornament suspending on the forehead), sisphūl (hair ornament), kap (ear ornament), bugdi (ear ornament) and nath (nose ornament). The hair-style appearing in the paintings is khopa, commonly done by the Brāhmin women of Maharashtra. Such changes in the pictorial representations were to suit the tastes of the patrons of Maharashtra.
Numerous wall-paintings have depicted the royal families of Maharashtra within the havelis. The haveli originated in the northern areas like Rajasthan and Marwar. The spacious havelis were built and maintained especially for the rulers and their sardars. The structural features of the havelis like the domes, arches, minarets and the terrace have formed the backdrop of many paintings wherein the subject matter was typically of Maharashtra. The objects like chandeliers, carpets and floral designs have further enhanced the luxurious life inside the havelis. The portrayal of havclis in the paintings of