Book Title: Wall Paintings of Rajasthan
Author(s): Dalsukh Malvania, Nagin J Shah
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

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Page 30
________________ tain trees symbolical of gopis having soft and charming thighs. The association of the idea of a flowering plantain tree with the fully developed moon bosoms of a Nava Yauvanā is suggestive (Jnāta Yauvanā) here in this tempera executed on the wall of an outer verandah of a bathing apartment for the Zanana ladies. Stylistically the painting is done in folk-style. The figures, though short statured, are full of movement and verve. There is abundance of life. The cows and the fountain in the foreground add to the liveliness of the whole scene. The central figure of Rādha and Krishna dallying with 'gulāl'. This simple but forceful line drawing is vibrant with life and movement. There is less colour and more of brush drawing in this mural. The plantain trees with banana fruits are painted with a few sweeps of brush-strokes in pale terraverte. GOPIS' VASTRA HARAN: Krishna stealing the clothes of the gopis. This is the chef-d'oeuvre of the panel and it covers the central portion of the work. Krishna has stolen the clothes of the gopis bathing in the Jamuna waters and has climbed up the Kadamba tree. Beneath the tree are his pet cows. Gopis, some shown in nude and some bathing and swiming in the waters, are praying Krishna, with folded hands, to return them the clothes. The whole scene is animated. The hair knots of the supliants and the loose hair of the swimming gopis are worth noting. It gives an insight into the artist's keen observation. The treatment of the water-waves is artist's tour-de-force. On the left side of the painting is an another scene depicting dadhimanthana'. It is a page taken from daily life. Krishna as a child is shown stealing dadhi', hiding himself behind a tree. Yashodā churning the curd is a transcription of an incident in the day-to-day life of a village milk-maid doing her morning chore. On the right hand side of the picture is a scene in which Nanda and Yashodā are viewing the beautiful landscape from the palace 'atāri'. The peacock is an ever repeating motif in Rajasthani murals. In the lower portion of the painting is a garden scene wherein the two court ladies are reposing near a playing fountain. In the foreground the cows are shown grazing and drinking at the fountain of running water. This mural, in content and technique, is an example of unsophisticated folk-art. KILLING OF SHANKHASURA OR MATSYAVATARA: The work is divided into two horizontal panels. The lower one is in three vertical rectangular shapes. In the upper panel Krishna is shown as emerging out of [ 25 Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

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