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attitudes, are in abundance in Nagaur. Compare the acquiline nose of the lady with that of the 'sukanāsika' of the parrot. Indian painters delighted in painting their women figures according to the physical similarities of the Indian birds, animals and the vegetative life. For example a woman's nose, eyes, lips, arms, thighs, feet etc. were compared respectively with parrot's nose, lotus, bimba fruits, elephant's trunk, plaintain tree, etc.
27. LADY WITH A ROSE:
Figure of a Muslim lady painted on a pilaster, holding a rose flower in her right hand, is an excellent portraiture of a graceful woman. She is depicted inhaling the fragrance and the feel of the flower. The portrait is framed under an arch of mosaic-like floral decoration. Slight use of shading, to give relief to the figure, is made by the painter.
28. LADY PLAYING WITH 'CAKRI':
This was the pastime of the ladies of the zanana. The action of the arms, the gaze and stance of the player are attractive. The undulating lines of the raised bosom accentuated by the curvilinear line of the scarf on the left shoulder and the form of the youthful figure are fine in finish and style.
29. CONFIDENTES:
Are the two women discussing their love affairs ? They are in close embrace, and are discussing their private love-episodes over a cup of wine. Such scenes are often repeated on the walls of the Nagaur palace. The women, undoubtedly the ladies of the harem, are freely, and with gay abundance, engaged in the
bouts of drinks and eating fruits and grapes. 30. A MOGHUL PASTIME:
On festive occasions, especially in the Moghul days, the ladies of the harem played with fire-works in the night. The birth-days of the royal celebrities and ascension to the royal thrones were usually celebrated by the arrangements of "ātashbāji'. Here the elderly lady of the court, in company with her young daughter or a princess, is demonstrating the play of fire-works 'phulzar' in front of a small water tank. The simple but delicately finished two-figure composition with rich tonal variations is an excellent example of Rajasthani tradition of mural painting.
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