Kevalaodhi Buddhist And Jaina History Of Deccan Vol 2

Author(s): Aloka Parasher Sen, B Subrahmanyam, E Siva Nagi Reddy
Publisher: Bharatiya Kala Prakashan

Page 142

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Kevala-Bodhi--Buddhist and Jaina History of the Deccan
ruddy complexions. The rendering of the figures, on the other hand, corresponds to that in paintings from Bikaner and is particularly noticeable in the proportions of the tall lissome female figures, where the resemblance is emphasized by details of dress and items of jewelry, like the large ornament worn in the parting of the hair. Remarkably evocative of Bikaner, again is the compositional device of grouping figures in rows".
Some of these pictorial elements relate this scroll to Rajasthan, while the others display points of similarity with the 17th century Golkonda painting. The tradition of large-size cloth painting, produced for the Qutub Shahi court in about 1660-70 AD; and the locally produced scroll paintings used by the "Picture Showmen" in the northern part of Golkonda territory may have inspired the painters of this pața. The competent work of Golkonda paintings on cloth and this pața underline not only parallels in style, but also demonstrate that they were very much a part of a living tradition in this part of the Deccan. Most likely, the pata was used for narrating in detail the auspicious events portrayed in the panels by slowly unfolding each of them.
This pața's numerous stylistic traits are also found in the manuscript of the Nal Daman, dated AD 1698, and attributed to Golkonda, in the Prince of Wales Museum, Mumbai. Most notable among these is the pața's tendency to group figures in semicircular formations. Again, between the pata and the Nal Daman manuscript, there prevails a resemblance in the rendering of figures as well as their postures.
Additionally, the pata has many details/motifs common to Golkonda paintings. For example, the formally laid-out gardens with water channels. The style and several features of some of the Ragamåla paintings of the group to which belongs the Madhu Madhavi Rāgini, formerly in the collection of the late Motichand Khajanchi of Bikaner, which was attributed earlier to Golkonda c. 1650 AD", but now accepted as the work of Berar c. 1675 AD. Its execution, color combinations, elongated trees and the treatment of their foliage, long pointed crowns and costumes are identical to those found in the pata. I have a feeling that the same artist or the family executed the above-cited Rägamala as well as the scroll. In the light of recent researches, it would be reasonable to attribute both to between c. 1675-1700 AD.
Karanja, the town where the pata exists, was the place where it was perhaps painted by artists invited either from Aurangabad or from some town in the Berar region. Karanja had been an important center of the Digambara Jainas for whom this scroll as well as some Jaina religious texts were composed and illustrated, between c. 1725-50 AD, in a mixed Rajasthani- Deccani idiom.
2. The second example also is a scroll, in the Jagdish and Kamla Mittal Museum of Indian Art, Hyderabad. It depicts "Samavasarana of a Tirthankara". The crowned Tirthankara, who has become enlightened, is seated in the center of a series of circular enclosures constructed by Indra with four gateways in the cardinal directions to deliver the universal sermon. Indra, followed by several gods and musicians and a raja, along with his entourage, are seen visiting the Tirthankara.
The scroll, painted on paper, is lined with cotton cloth, and measures 23 X 204 cm. On stylistic grounds, it is attributable to c. 1725 AD. The painting is executed on plain paper, without any color for the background. The quality of the drawing is lively and mature.
3 & 4. The third and fourth examples are miniature paintings. The first, in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles (Plate LIV), and depicts a Muslim- looking devotee, identified by an Arabic inscription as “Rai Sabha Chand", who is holding a plate of flowers as offering. 12 The other