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the big 'matsya', playing on his flute. In the pond, the devil Shankhāsura with horns is shown emerging from the conchshell. On the top portion of the panel are shown sages praying to god Krishna. The cows, eagerly running towards the divine flutist and the balconies flanked with plantain trees, are the characteristic features of the artist's repertoire. In the lower panel are painted two 'nāyikās' with their pets - peacock and the cuckoo. They are taking a stroll in the flowering plantain grove. The whole panel is bordered with the flower and leaf motif. DECORATIVE ORNAMENTATIONS: The panel is divided in vertical parallels in two horizontal panels. The upper panel is an example of natural plants and trees utilised as decorative elements. In this case, the flowering plantain tree is the example. In this lower panel, scenes from Ramayana, Mahabharata and Krishna's life are depicted with brush-lines in black 'syahi'.
WOMEN BATHING IN A WATER-POOL: In 'grishma ritu' people go to reside under the shady trees situated near a lake or a river or in wood-lands. In the mural shown here are the ladies, some nude, some semi-nude and some fully clad, bathing in a pool of cool water near a hillock overgrown with mango trees. The postures of the swimming women are varied. The swimming nude in the foreground and the one at the top of the painting, standing, and dressing her hair, are of particular interest. A lady smoking a hooka after having a refreshing bath is one of the common motifs used by the painter in such subjects. Moghuls were famous for planning such secluded gardens of delight for the zanana women. The mango trees laiden with ripe fruits are symbolic of the advent of spring and bloom in nature and human life. The arrangement of the three ladies, two completely nude, and the one smoking a hookah with a scarf on her head is of interest, from the point of view of technique and design. The verticals made by the mango trees and the standing figure is counterpoised by the horizontals made by the two sitting figures and the line of the hillock in the foreground. The contours of the sitting figures as well as the drooping lines of the nude woman dressing her hair, give sense of weight and repose to the whole scene. The ripe mango fruits, fruit parexcellence of India, and the treatment of water-spirals near the feet of the standing nude are worth noticing for the treatment of the trees and water by Indian and oriental
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