Jignasa Journal Of History Of Ideas And Culture Part 02

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

Page 34

250 /
Jijňäsä
Mughal Rule. The Islamic mythology mentions hima as a mythical bird and the counter-part of this divine bird on the earth is hawk or falcon. Thus, a hawk or falcon is associated with royal power. This is the reason as to why a hawk is often seen in the Mughal paintings. A very interesting painting of the Mughal miniature style shows emperor Shah Jahan seated on the throne and a pair of birds on the dais of the throne around the solar disk as if are meant for showering the divine favour on emperor Shah Jahan. Prince Dara Shukoh is shown presenting to Shah Jahan, his father, with the earthly counterpart of it i.e., a hawk. (See, plate no.1) Thus, the full painting reflects an auspicious feelig. Hindu mythology also has given a special status to the hawk among birds. A hawk is said to be auspicious to kill/vanquish the enemy. The hawk is referred to be a power-giving bird also by the Puranas like the Agni Purāņa ard the Mastya Purāna. The Agni Purāņa says that the 'beeja' of this bird is very important. If the sword of the ruler is decorated with the symbol of the hawk's 'beeja' the enemy of the ruler is sure be killed. The Mastya Purāna recommends that a person wishing to be victorious over the enemy should prepare the image of his enemy and then should sanctify a dagger by invoking the hawk reciting the sorcery mantras and then cut the image of the enemy. Such an action is said to be certainly leading the king to victory."
Thus the portrayal of a falcon or a hawk in the miniature painting of the Peshwa period shows a fusion of the beliefs about the bird in Islamic as well as the Hindu traditions.(See, plate no.2)
Gulabdāni:
Certain paintings show the objects indicating affluent life. Gulābdäni or a rose sprinkler is one of them. It was included in the list of the demands that the Peshwas made to their northern sardärs. The origin of guläbdäni is found in Mughal rule. The Mughal kings being fond of various types of scented flowers planted the saplings and extracted the essence from it. Akbar, the Mughal emperor, had specially set up a department named Khushbukhānā wherein different scents were prepared after experiments. The text entitled Vakayāt-i-Jahāngiri records that the mother of Noorjahan got the extract from the rose petals collected after boiling them and prepared a rose essence from it. After the success of this experiment Noorjahan named it as itar-i-jahāngiri. It was the rose essence that was mixed in water to make the rose water. The gulābdānis of silver were for containing the rose water and for sprinkling it on festive occasions. The document of the year 1753-54 states that Peshwa Nanasaheb had got made many objects of gold and silver from Naro Shankar at Zansi that included gulābdāni among others. (See, fig. no.2) The object like gulābdāni was quite novel to the people of Maharashtra. There is no mention of such luxurious objects in the pre-Peshwa times in Maharashtra. Thus it must have been imported into Maharashtra during the Peshwa times. It is interesting to note that gulābdāni soon figured in the feminine functions like haldikünkü. The Haldikūnkū was a kind of get-together of married ladies of the Brahmin caste. The practice prevails even to this day among some families. The Haldikūnkū is conducted on the auspicious days preferably in the Hindu months of Chaitra, Sravan and Pausa. There used to be placing of a goddess called Gauri in the month of Chaitra that corresponds to the months of March-April according to English calendar. The goddess used to be decorated with the regional and seasonal flowers and fruits and also with neem leaves. Various eatables were prepared for the goddess. Gauri is in fact a form of a mother-goddess. This period of the year corresponds to the taking of one set of crops. Hence a get-together of the married ladies symbolized the honour of the mother goddess. The Hindu month of Pausa corresponds with the month of January. The period from Makar Sankranti to Rathasaptami is considered to be the