Religious Song Of Mirabai

June 18, 2013, 4:10 am

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Terrified am I at the sight of the dark clouds……..

Terrified am I at the sight of the dark clouds,

I am frightened seeing them.

How these black and yellow clouds rise

and rain!

Whithersoever I go, the place with water

is surrounded,‘ the earth is all turned green.

She, whose Lord dwells in, a foreign land,

stands, wet, waiting outside for ‘her

Dear One.

Miré’s Lord, is Hari, the. Indestructible,

with Whom she is in genuine love.

Rain the clouds in the month of Sravana…………….

Rain the clouds in the month of Sravana,

Ah! the clouds of Sravana, the heart-

captivating clouds

In Srfivana my heart heaves up,

As hears it the approach of Dear Hari.

Come the clouds gathering from all sides.

Shivers the lightning heralding the

approach of rain-bearing clouds.

In tiny drops falls the rain and blows the

fragrant breeze, cool and pleasant.

Mira’s Lord, Giradhara Négara,

The time is arrived for us to sing a

glorious welcome.

 

 

 

I hear the sound of the approach of Hari………….

I hear the sound of the approach of Hari.

The heights I climb, 0 friend,

When shall the Dear One arrive.

The frog, the peacock, Papaiya,

And the Cuckoo strike melodious notes.

On all sides Indra rises, and as it rains,

The lightning gives up her modesty.

The earth has assumed ever new fonns,

To meet Indra, its beloved.

Mira Lord is Hari, the enternal.

Pray meet her soon.

Writer – Bankey Behari

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Rajasthani Painting

June 19, 2013, 3:09 am

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Rajasthani painting occupies its own historical place in Indian painting. From the time of its origin it emerged and flourished and has been part of the continuing traditional wave of painting in India since ancient times. Parameters regarding early and later developments of painting from time to time could be detected in it. It is a different matter that it unhesitatingly assimilated the impact of other Indian as well as foreign styles in this period.

Constitution of Rajasthani School

Rajasthani painting developed in various styles of the Mewar, Marwar, Hadoti and Dhundar schools, and their substyles from the 16th century to the 19th is definitely a major branch of Indian painting. Greatly influenced by other schools and styles, the identity of Rajasthani painting could easily be ascertained. It possesses the following main characteristics.

1.       Depiction of Folklife: Rajasthani painting developed in a tradition of frescoes strictly confined to folklife. In early paintings simplicity and ease and abundance of sentiment relating to folklife in selecting colour schemes and themes have been noted. Art flourished in the cultural milieu of the royal court, and this painting was dissociated from the folk element. Developed at religious and cultural centres, this style of painting was closely associated with public life and popular themes.

2.      Abundance of Pravants: Rajasthani painting is full of romance. A sentimental approach had been extensively adopted in this style. The sweet Radha-Krishna theme has been used extensively and is deeply rooted in it. A rare combination of Bhakti and shringar has been depicted in a lively manner in Rajasthani painting.

3.       Variety of Themes: The subject matter of Rajasthani painting is vast. It flourished on the background of many themes like the various lilas of Radha-Krishna, stories relating to the Mahabharat and Bhagwad, nayak-nayika-bheda, rag-ragini, barah-masa, description of seasons, court life, festivals, hunting, draw-ings of raja-rani, folklore. Illustration of poetry is a unique characteristic of this style.

4.      Colour-Scheme: Arrangement of colour in Rajasthani painting is specially significant. Red, yellow, white and green are the principal colours of this style. With combinations of these colours artistsmade paintings in technicolour. Application of sharp bright shining colours possess their own form and style.

5.      Raiput Culture: Lively depiction of Rajput culture and civilisation and the circumstances of that age is often visible in Rajasthani painting. Their skill as builders of forts and temples, have/is, royal courts has been minutely shown in Rajasthani painting. Traditional and devotional ages have also been extensively painted in a lively style.

6.      Nature's Perspective: The vast perspective of nature has been painted in many colours. There are ponds full of lotus flowers. Rays of serpentine lightning in a sky covered with dense black clouds, forests, gardens, trees, shrubs, flowering plants, leaves, fields full of birds, deer, peacock, lion, elephant, these are special features of Rajasthani painting.

Comparison with Equivalent Schools of North India

For the sake of comparison, two schools of northern painting could be placed on a level with Rajasthani painting. These are the Mughal and Pahari schools. One conclusion to be drawn from a comparative study is that the Rajasthani style, though influenced by these styles, still maintained its originality.

Rajasthani and Mughal Schools

Origin and development of these schools took place simultaneously. Because of political and other influences mutual artistic exchange is quite natural, but both these styles retain their original characters. The Mughal style is based on the Iranian school and the Rajasthani on an indigenous style.

Regarding subject matter, the Mughal style was dominated by the pomp and show of the royal court and of feudal lords, the Rajasthani on the other hand by the simplicity of folklife. The Mughal style had a realistic approach while the Rajasthani style adopted a highly imaginative posture.

The Mughal style emerged from miniatures while the Rajasthani style grew from frescoes. While one was dominated by the grandeur of the royal court, the other was filled with religious sentiment, devotion and shringar. In one drawing of the court, wars and royal festivals was extensively depicted, in the other there was lively depicting of a simple rural lifestyle, romantic poetical imagination, religious sentiment and enactments of various moods of Radha-Krishna. One contained a graphic account of Persian poetry and Mughal history, while the other depicted nature in depth on the basis of texts from Hindi-Sanskrit poetry.

In Rajasthani painting colour schemes and style of decoration are entirely different from those of the Mughal style. While the colour scheme of one was austere, the other acquired a lively character. Rajasthani painting assimilated the Puranic tradition of ideal Hindu life, deeds of Rajput chivalry and culture while the other style was predominantly Mughal in character. One used Indian symbols like the lotus, swan and peacock while the other was dominated by trees of saru, falcons and camels.

A comparative examination of these styles reveals the diversity of sentiment in them. From the middle of the 16th century, because of the political and social impact of the Mughals, the seeds of Mughal culture spread in Rajasthan. By the beginning of the 17^th century the whole of Rajasthan came under the influence of the Mughals. They established their cultural suzerainty over the whole of Rajasthan, and at the same time were tremendously influenced by the Rajputs themselves. Matrimonial alliances between Mughals and Rajputs resulted in mutual exchanges in the arts, and this is clearly visible in these styles.

Rajasthani and Pahari Schools

The style of painting which flourished in Basohli, Jammu, Garhwal, Chamba, Kangra, Guler and Mandi in the hilly areas in the northwest has been termed the Pahari school. Developed in the 18th century, this style is an eternal legacy of the Rajasthani style. With the eclipse of Mughal art some artists from the Mughal court were sheltered by Rajput royalty. Under the impact of environment the paintings they produced acquired the name of new Pahari school.

Pahari painting, like the earlier Rajasthani style, adopted the same parameters for drawings of sentiment and artistic portrayal. On the basis of expressing different moods of Rad ha-Krishna many paintings were drawn in the Pahari style. Paintings executed on the basis of texts like Bhagwad-Puran, Geet-Govind, Sursagar, Rasikpriya, Bihari-Satsai, nayika-bheda and rag-ragini are the main heritage of the Kangra and Basohli styles. In the Basohli style, like the Mewar style, indicative colours and folk art predominate. In the Pahari school of painting, expression of sentiment, rhythm in line and colour and diversity of subject matter are unique in the Kangra style.

From the point of view of development of art, the contribution of Raja Sansar Chand (1775-1783) was invaluable. In respect of steadiness of brush, selecting colours, pleasing figures of males and females, drawing of nature in seven colours, diversity in animals and birds and expression of sentiment, the Kangra style is much renowned. Application of seven colours and beauty prevalent in Bundi and Kishangarh styles is particularly noticeable in the Kangra style. This similarity in the Pahari and Rajasthani schools are two strains of the traditions of Indian painting.

The Rajasthani school of painting and other earlier and later styles of Indian painting influenced each other to such an extent that it becomes an uphill task to dissociate them.

The great significance of Rajasthani artists adopting the rich traditions of Indian painting, of which the most artistic is the Ajanta style, cannot be denied. Originating at Medpat (Mewar) and greatly influenced by earlier styles and substyles and adopting later styles, Rajasthani painting greatly enriched Indian art.

Owing to the folk-artistic impact of the Mewar style, total drawing of integrated seven colours in the Bundi and Kishangarh styles, the Mughal influence on the Jaipur and Alwar styles, whatever draft of Rajasthani painting emerges before us, has been commented on by Dr Coomaraswamy like this: "It is a highly fine form of Indian painting and deserves its unique position among all great styles of the world." Different enactments of moods of Rad ha-Krishna form the basis of drawings of this style. Based on Hindi, Sanskrit and Rajasthani poetry, this style of painting turned medieval culture and civilisation and sentimental aspects of Hindi poetry dedicated to Lord Krishna into reality.

Rajasthani painting is the lively reflection of the literature of Hindu society. Rajasthani artists applied colours magically. Their unique method of description lends pleasing comfort to the eyes. Their paintings possess an eternal source of romance.

Pictorial texts and miniatures created by them could not only be applied in studying the sentimental and artistic aspects of medieval literature, but could also be utilised in viewing the true form of the whole culture of that age. Hence Rajasthani painting occupies a unique and very significant place in the history of Indian culture in the Mughal and post-Mughal periods.

Writer – Jai Singh Neeraj

Rajput Painting in the Punjab Hills

June 19, 2013, 11:49 pm

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Unlike the widely scattered courts of Rajasthan, the numerous minor Rajput kingdoms of the Himalayan foothills were clustered in an area only three hundred miles long by a hundred wide. Although they shared a similar cultural background to the southern Rajputcourts, they were effectively separated from them by the broad expanse of the Punjab plains, and they were also less affected by Mughal incursions. This comparative isolation, together with the closer communications between the Hill courts, contributed to the development of some of the most expressive styles of Indian painting, characterised in their earlier phases by a controlled vehemence of colour and line, and later by a mellifluous idiom that combined Mughal technique with Rajput devotional and romantic sensibility.

The origins of the first classic style of Pahari (Hill) painting, associated with the court of Basohli, are still not understood, though it may have had antecedents in the widespread pre-Mughal style as well as in local Hill idioms. An early illustration to the Rasamanjari, a poetical text classifying lovers and their behaviour, reveals a fully formed and highly charged style, with a taut line and vibrant palette. The interpretation of literary conceits is as direct as in Rajasthani manuscripts. 

A lady who has been secretly unfaithful explains to her confidante that the love-marks on her breast were in fact scratches caused by the household cat as it chased a rat during the night. The cat and the rat appear on the pavilion roofer here is nothing here of the hybrid weakness sometimes found in Rajasthani work affected by Popular Mughal fluence. So confident was the Pahari artists' vision that Mugha portraiture could be reinterpreted with equal intensity. The Mankot raja with a rosary, huqqa and sword is not a psychological study of an individual but a celebration of the proud Rajput type silhouetted against a hot yellow background, orange bolster and white floorsprcad. Painting at the court of Kulu had a particular wildness and zest, Kuutala raga, from an extended ragamala series of the Pahari type, is depicted as a prince feeding pigeons; Akbar himself had been fond of the sport of pigeon-flying, which was known as ishq-bazi or love-play'.

Although there is some evidence of strongly Mughal-influenced work in the Hills in the late 17^th century, comparable to that of the Bikaner school, this was exceptional during the first phase of Pahari painting. But in the second quarter of the 18^th century a fundamental change of direction took place. Artists trained in the Mughal style began to arrive in increasing numbers, particularly after the sack of Delhi in 1739. From being the vehicle of a jaded sensuality, their technique became revitalised in lyrical depictions of Hindu poetical and devotional subjects, in a development paralleled in Rajasthan by the less subtle Kishangarh style.

Members of the family of the artist Pandit Seu, who were based at Guler but travelled widely among the Hill courts, were influential in shaping and disseminating the new style. One of Seu's sons was the great portrait artist Nainsukh, who had probably received some Mughal training. He enjoyed an unusually intimate and understanding relationship with his patronkthe minor prince Balwant Singh, whom he portrayed carrying out all the daily activities of a nobleman: hunting, listening to music, inspecting a horse, or simply writing a letter or preparing to go to bed. Compared with the stark Mankot picture, Nainsukh's portraiture and spatial setting are far more naturalistic. Nevertheless the bold, geometrical arrangement of the architecture and back-ground areas remains typically Rajput.

A religious subject in the early Guler style combines the new technical refinement with a devotional feeling taking the form of tender domestic observation Shiva is shown sewing a garment, while Parvati strings human heads for his necklace. Their sons, the many-headed Karttikcya and the elephant-headed Ganesha, who plays with Shiva's cobra, sit beside them, and their respective vehicles, the bull, lion, peacock and rat, wait in attendance Wersions of the graceful Guler idiom were developed at several courts, such as Garhwal to the south-east, where a Barahmasa illustration of the winter month of Aghan was painted a pair of lovers, idealised as Radha and Krishna, gaze at one another on a terrace while two cranes fly skywards.

The last great Pahari patron was Raja Sansar Chand of Kangra (1775-1823), whose long reign saw both the final maturity of Hill painting and the beginning of its decline. Early in his reign several masterly series of the classic texts celebrating the life of Krishna were illustrated for him. The love of Radha and Krishna was depicted with tender directness in idyllic landscape setting. As in earlier periods of Indian painting, the luxuriant burgeoning of nature serves to enhance and express the emotions of the human figures. (Krishna is as usual shown as an elegant, princely figure; perhaps akin to the young Sansar Chand. As at Guler, scenes of zenana life were also charmingly rendered, with increasingly curvilinear rhythms, as in a scene of ladies throwing powder and squirting water at the spring festival of Holi. But, as at Kishangarh, such a sweetly refined style could only remain fresh for a short time. 

From the beginning of the 19^thcentury it became facile and sentimental. At the same time, Sansar Chand's power was lost first to Gurkha invaders and then to the Sikhs, who had won control of the Punjab plains and now began to annexe the Hill kingdoms. However, the British traveller William Moorcroft, who visited Sansar Chand in 1820, reports that, though living in reduced circumstances, he was still 'fond of drawing' and continued to support several artists as well as a zenana of three hundred ladies. His daily life was still passed in an orderly round of prayer, conversation, chess, viewing pictures and performances of music and dance.

The Sikhs continued to hold the Punjab until their displacement by the British in 1849. They commissioned portraits of their Gurus and themselves in a weakened Pahari manner, to which they brought little inspiration as patrons. However one of the most imposing of all Indian portraits is that of Maharaja Gulab Singh. His large figure which fills the picture area is shown seated holding the familiar props of a sprig of flowers and a sword. He wears a dextrously composed turban and coat with sharply ruffled hem, and his face, no longer in profile, stares obliquely away from the viewer in baleful self-possession.

Writer – Andrew T0psfield
  

Painting Gallery of Babur Nama

June 20, 2013, 11:31 pm

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A MARKET SCENE AT KAND-E-BADAM, WEIGHING AND TRANSPORT OF ALMONDS

Artist, Sur Das 

Baburdescribes Farghana, its principal towns, villages and rivers in Section I of the Bc7bur Nc7ma. Andijan was its capital, and Khujand one of its ancient towns. He thus describes Kand-e-Badam which was known for its almonds:

"Kand:e-Badam (village of almonds) is a dependency of Khujand ; though it is not a township (qasbii) it is rather a good approach to one (ciasbcacha). Its almonds are excellent, hence its name; they all go to Hormuz or to Hindustan. It is five or six yighach east of Khu-jand."

This painting is by Sur Das. In the background is Kand-e-Badam. In between the domes of mosques are date-palms, reminding us of an Indian town. On the left a man is plucking almonds and in the centre almonds are being weighed and bagged. In the foreground they are being loaded on camels and transported to their destination. There is action and movement in this painting which vividly depicts trade in almonds, and how they were brought to India from Central Asia.

BABUR MEETING KHANZADA BEGAM, MEHR BANU. BEGAM AND OTHER LADIES

Artist, Mansur

Khanzada Begam was the sister of Ba.bur. When he was forced to evacuate Samarkand in 1500 A.D. he was compelled to marry her to Shaibani Khan, his enemy. Shaibani Khan was defeated by Shah Ismail of Persia, who killed him and made a drinking cup of his skull. Babur thus describes his reunion with his sister:

"Khanzada Begam was in Mery when Shah Ismail (Safavi) defeated the Auzbegs near that town (916 A.H. =1510 A.D.); for my sake he treated her well, giving her sufficient escort to Qunduz where she rejoined me. We had been apart for some ten years; when Muhammadi Kukultash and I went to see her, neither she nor those about her knew us, although I spoke. They recognized us after a time."

This painting is by Mansur, who distinguished himself in painting birds and animals. Here he depicts the reunion of brother and sister at Qunduz in Afghanistan. Seated close to Babur is his companion Kukultash. Seated in front of Babur is Khanzada Begam attended by maid-servants. Outside the kanat are soldiers armed with spears, bows and arrows guarding the tent. There is no display of emotions as the sister did not recognize her brother.

BABUR IN CHAR-BAGH AT ANDI JAN

Babur's father Urnar Shaikh Mirza died at the fort of Akhsi while tending his pigeons. As Babur describes, "the fort of Akhsi is situated above a deep ravine, along this ravine stand the palace buildings, and from it on Monday, Ramzan 4, Umar Shaikh Mirzd flew, with his pigeons and their house, and became a falcon."

"At the time of Umar Shaikh Mirza's accident, I was in the Four Gardens (Char-biigh) of Andijan. The news reached Andijan on Tuesday, Ramzan 5 (June 9th); I mounted at once, with my followers and retainers, intending to go into the fort but, on our getting near the Mirza's Gate, Shirim Taghai took hold of my bridle and moved off towards the Praying Place. It had crossed his mind that if a great ruler like Si. Ahmad Mirza came in force, the Andijan Begs would make me over to him and the country, but that if he took me to Auzkint and the foothills thereabouts, I, at any rate, should not be made over and could go to one of my mother's (half-) brothers, Sl. Mahmud Khan or Sl. Ahmad Khdn."

The painting shows Babur mounted on a horse followed by his retainers going to Akhsi. In the background is the fort of Andijan. The artist has depicted Babur in a sorrowful mood. In the foreground are soldiers armed with muskets, and a courtier on horse-back praying with his hands raised.

ACCLAMATION OF NINE STANDARDS

Artist, Jagnath

The Mughals observed ceremonies and rules which were laid long ago by Chingiz Khan. For each clan a place was fixed in battle-array. One of their ceremonies was acclamation of nine standards which is thus described by Babur:

"The standards were acclaimed in Mughal fashion. The Khan dismounted and nine standards were set up in front of him. A Mughal tied a long strip of white cloth to the thigh-bone of a cow and took the other end in his hand. Three other long strips of white cloth were tied to the staves of three of the nine standards, just below the yak-tails, and their other ends were brought for the Khan to stand on one and for me and SI. Muh. Khanika to stand each one of the two others. The Mughal who had hold of the strip of cloth fastened to the cow's leg, then said something in Mughal while he looked at the standards and made signs towards them. The Khan and those present sprinkled quiniz in the direction of the standards; hautbois and drums were sounded towards them ; the army flung the war-cry out three times towards them, mounted, cried it again and rode at the gallop round them."

This incident relates to 1502 A.D. and took place at Bish-lcint on the Khujand-Tashkent road. Babur is standing on a strip of white cloth. In the foreground is an old Mughal soldier holding a piece of cloth which he has tied to the leg of a cow. In the background trumpets are being sounded and drums beaten.

KHUSRAU SHAH PAYING HOMAGE TO BABUR AT DOSHI NEAR KABUL

Khusrau Shah, a Turkistani Qipchaq, was a noble of Mahrmad Mirth' who ruled the country from Amu to the Hindukush mountains. Babur describes him as 'black-souled and vicious, dunder-headed and senseless, disloyal, traitor, and a coward who had not the pluck to stand up to a hen!' He met Babur at Dashi near Kabul. Babur thus describes their meeting:

"Next day, one in the middle of the First Rabi (end of August, 1504 A.D.), riding light, I crossed the Andar-ãb water and took my seat under a large plane-tree near Dashi, and thither came Khusrau Shah, in pomp and splendour, with a great company of men. According to rule and custom, he dismounted some way off and then made his approach. Three times he knelt. When we saw one another, three times also on taking leave; he knelt once when asking after my welfare, once again when he offered his tribute, and he did the same with Jahangir Mirza and with Mirza Khan (Wais)."

Baburis seated under a plane-tree and the person kneeling in front of him is Khusrau Shah. In the foreground are his retainers including one holding a hawk. After receiving homage from Khusrau Shah Babur marched to Kabul.

THE GARDEN OF FIDELITY NEAR KABUL (BAGH-I-WAFA)

Artist, Bhagwan

With the capture of Kabul in 1504 begins the second phase in the career of Babur. Kabul is known for its temperate fruits, viz, the grape, pomegranate, apricot, apple, pear, peach, plum and walnut. In the hotter valleys, even sugarcane, orange and citron were cultivated. Now that he had some peace, he indulged in his favourite hobby of gardening. In 1508-9 he laid out a garden known as Bagh-i-wafa near Fort Adinapur, which he thus describes:

"The garden lies high, has running-water close at hand, and a mild winter climate. In the middle of it, a one-mill stream flows constantly past the little hill on which are the four garden-plots. In the south-west part of it there is a reservoir, 10 by 10, round which are orange-trees and a few pomegranates, the whole encircled by a trefoil-meadow. This is the best part of the garden, a most beautiful sight when the oranges take colour. Truly that garden is admir-ably situated !"

On the top of the painting is Koh-i-Safed, the snow-covered mountain, and a persian wheel for lifting water. Below is the Char-bagh divided into four plots in which oranges are growing. A plantain and two cypresses grow in one of the plots. A keord plant is in the plot on the top right. In the reservoir in the centre a pair of ducks are gambolling. A solitary gardener is digging the soil in the plot to the left.

Maur thus records a visit to Kigh-i-wafd in A.D. 1519. "We dismounted in the Bligh-i-wafd; its oranges had yellowed beautifully; its spring-bloom was well-advanced, and it was very charming."

BABUR SUPERVISING THE CONSTRUCTION OF A RESERVOIR ON THE SPRING OF `KHWAJA SIH YARAN', NEAR KABUL

Artist, Prem

Babur describes the pleasant villages around Kabul and their gardens. He records thirty three different varieties of tulips on the foothills of Dasht-i-Shaikh. In the ranges of Pamghan were a number of villages which grew grapes. Of these he admired Istalif as the best of the lot.

"Few villages match Istalif", wrote Babur, "with vineyards and fine orchards on both sides of its great torrent, with waters needing no ice, cold and, mostly, pure. Of its Great garden Aulugh Beg Mirza had taken forcible possession; I took it over, after paying its price to the owners. There is a pleasant halting-place outside it, under great planes, green, shady and beautiful. A one-mill stream, having trees on both banks, flows constantly through the middle of the garden; formerly its course was zig-zag and irregular; I had it made straight and orderly; so the place became very beautiful.

"I ordered that the spring should be enclosed in mortared stone-work, 10 by 10, and that a symmetrical, right-angles platform should be built on each of its sides, so as to overlook the whole field of Judas trees. In, the world over, there is a place to match this when the arghwans are in full bloom, I do not know it. The yellow arghwiin grows plentifully there also, the red and the yellow flowering at the same time.

"In order to bring water to a large round seat which I had built on the hillside and planted round with willows, I had a channel dug across the slope from a half-mill stream, constantly flowing in a valley to the south-west of Sih-ydran. The date of cutting this channel was found in jui-khush (kindly-channel)."

In this colourful painting Babur holding a hawk is standing near the reservoir, which he got constructed. In the background is his tent. On the top of the painting the artist has painted a dancing peacock, tail spread out into a gorgeous fan, admired by a pair of pea-hens. Surely it is a reminder of India, the home of the painter. On the rocks are a pair of mountain goats. In the foreground a grey-hound is drinking water from the stream. It is undoubtedly one of the most delightful paintings of the Babur.

BIRD CATCHING AT BARAN

Artist, Bhag

Babur Nama is in Kohistan province of Afghanistan. Babur wrote, "More beautiful in Spring than any part even of Kabul are the openlands of Baran and the skirt of Gul-i-bahar. Many sorts of tulips bloom there.

Kabul in Spring is an Eden of verdure and blossom Matchless in Kabul the Spring of Gul-i-bahar and Baran Few places are equal to these for spring excursions for hawking or bird-shooting.

"Along the Baran people take masses of cranes (tarnii) with the cord ; masses of afiqdr, qargarii and qatan also. This method of bird catching is unique. They twist a cord as long as the arrow's flight, tie the arrow at one end and a bildfirgii at the other, and wind it up, from the arrow-end, on a piece of wood, span-long and wrist-thick, right up to the bildfirgii. They then pull out the piece of wood, leaving just the hole it was in. The bildfirgei being held fast in the hand, the arrow is shot off towards the coming flock. If the cord twist round a neck or wing, it brings the bird down. On the Baran everyone takes birds in this way." By this device Baran people catch the many herons from which they take the turban-aigrettes sent from Kabul for sale in Khurasan.

"Of bird-catchers there is also the band of slave-fowlers, two or three hundred house-holds, whom some descendant of Timm-Beg made to migrate from near Multan to the Baran. Bird-catching is their trade; they dig tanks, set decoy-birds on them, put a net over the middle, and in this way take all sorts of birds."

This painting by Bhag is one of the best studies of birds in the Babur Nama. Outside the net set by the fowler who is hiding behind a screen are a pair of hoopoes, sarus cranes, snipes and other water-birds. A sarus crane is innocently flying into the net. In the foreground is a mountain stream with lotuses among whom ducks are gambolling, providing a poetic touch to this painting.

BABUR FEASTING AT KOHAT

Artist, Daulat

"Whether to cross the water of Sind, or where else to go, was discussed in that camp. Baqi Chaghaniani represented that it seemed we might go, without crossing the river and with one night's halt, to a place called Kohat where were many rich tribesmen; moreover he brought Kabulis forward who represented the matter just as he had done. We had never heard of the place, but, as he, my man in great authority, saw it good to go to Kohat and had brought forward support of his recommendation."

STAGE SET FOR A MEETING BETWEEN BABUR AND THE MIRZAS

This painting relates to a meeting between Babur and the Mirzas of Khurdsdn on 26^thOctober, 1506, on the Murghab river. About the Mirzds, Babur comments, 'They were good enough as company and in social matters, but they were strangers to war, strategy, equipment, bold fight and encounter.' He thus describes this meeting:

"Four divans (tushuk) had been placed in the tent. Always in the Mirzd's tents one side was like a gate-way and at the edge of this gate-way he always sat. A divan was set there now on which he and Muzaffar Mirza sat together. Abu'l muhsin Mirzd and I sat on another, set in the right-hand place of honour (tur). On another, to Badiuz zamdn Mirza's left, sat Ibn-i-husain Mirza with Qasim SI. Auzbeg, a son-in-law of the late Mirza and father of Qasim-i-husain Sultan. To my right and below my divan was one on which sat Jahangir Mirza and Abdu'r-razzaq Mirza. To the left of Qdsim SI. and Ibn-i-husain Mirld, but a good deal lower, were Muh. Baranduq Beg, Zu'n-nun Beg and Qasim Beg.

Although this was not a social gathering, cooked viands were brought in, drinks were set with the food, and near them gold and silver cups."

BABUR ENJOYING A FEAST GIVEN BY THE MIRZAS AT HERAT

In 1507 Babur paid a visit to Herat. Here he saw the gardens, mosques and mausolea including Gazur-gah, the tomb of Khwaja Abdullah Ansari. Here he married Masrima-Sultan Begam. The Mirzds entertained Babur at a feast.

"Bad! Uzi-zaman Mirza asked me to a party arranged in the Maqauwi-khana of the world-adorning Garden. He asked also some of my close circle, and some of our braves.

"At this party they set a roast goose before me but as I was no carver or disjointer of birds, I left it alone. 'Do you not like it?' inquired the Mirza. Said I, 'am a poor carver.' On this he at once disjointed the bird and set it again before me. In such matters he had no match. At the end of the party he gave me an enamelled waist-dagger, a char-qab, and a tipu-chaqt."

This is a beautiful painting showing a feast in a garden, under the shade of a chenart. Cooks are busy cooking in the foreground and attendants are carrying food. Babur is making a futile attempt to carve a goose, while Badi-u'z-zaman Mirza is looking on and is about to intervene.

BABUR CAPTURES A FLOCK OF SHEEP FROM THE HAZARAS

After seeing the sights of Herat, Babur left for Kabul. Instead of travelling by the Kandahar road which though longer, was safe and easy, he took the mountain-road which was difficult and dangerous. During the night there was heavy snow-fall and a blizzard. He took shelter in a cave along with his men. Next morning while he was on the move a body of Turkman Hazards attacked his army with arrows.

"I myself collected a few of the Hazards' sheep, gave them into Yarak Taghai's charge, and went to the front. By ridge and valley, driving horses and sheep before us, we went to Timur Beg's Langar and there dismounted. Fourteen or fifteen Hazard theives had fallen into our hands; I had thought of having them put to death when we next dismounted, with various torture, as a warning to all high-waymen and robbers, but Qdsim Beg came across them on the road and, with mistimed compassion, set them free."

In this painting we see Babur on horse-back and in front of him is a flock of sheep captured from the Hazards.

BABUR AND COMPANIONS WARMING THEMSELVES BEFORE A CAMP FIRE

While Babur was raiding the Turkman Hazards, news came that his nobles in Kabul had mutinied and had declared Miria Khan as Padshdh. They also spread a rumour that the Mirzas of Herat had captured Babur and imprisoned him in a fort. On the way to Kabul he encountered intense cold. As he describes:

"We sent on Ahmad the messenger (yasilwal) and Qara Ahmad Yuninchi to say to the Begs, 'Here we are at the time promised; be ready! behold!' After crossing Minar-hill and dismounting on its skirt, helpless with cold, we lit fires to warm ourselves. It was not time to light the signal-fire; we just lit these because we were helpless in that mighty cold." Next morning he reached Kabul and subdued the rebels.

This painting of a night scene shows Babur's qualities of leadership; his concern for his men and comradely treatment he gave them in times of adversity.

BATTLE SCENE NEAR MURGHAN KOH

Artist, Makra

Shaibaq Khan, Uzbek captured Herat in June 1507. The Mirzas supplicated Babur for help. Babur pushed on towards Kandahar. The Uzbeks were led by Shah Beg and his younger brother Muqim. This painting shows a battle near Kandahar. Babur states:

"We mean time, after putting our adversary to flight, had crossed those same channels towards the naze of Murghan-koh (Birds'-h ill). Someone on a grey horse was going backwards and forwards irresolutely along the hill-skirt, while we were getting across; I likened him to Shah Beg; seemingly it was he.

"Our men having beaten their opponents, all went off to pursue and unhorse them. Remained with me eleven to count, `Abdu'l-lah the librarian being one. Muqim was still keeping his ground and fighting. Without a glance at the fewness of our men, we had the nagarets sounded and, putting our trust in God, moved with face set for Muqim." After this incident Babur moved on to Kandahar, and looted the treasury.

It is an excellent painting which conveys the excitement of a battle. It is packed with action, and is symbolic of the restless energy of Babur. Babur holding a naked sword is charging the enemy. Facing him is Muqim holding a shield. Drums are being lustily beaten by the drummers of both sides.

BABUR CROSSING A RIVER SEATED ON A RAFT

In May 1508 Babur abandoned the invasion of Hindustan. He visited Lamghanat which borders the land inhabited by Kafirs, who had resisted conversion to Islam. Here he crossed a river seated on a raft for the first time. Thus states BAbur:

"As it was not found desirable to go on into Hindustan, I sent Mulla Baba of Pashaghar back to Kabul with a few braves. Mean time I marched from near MandrAwar to Mar and Shiwa and lay there for a few days. From Atar I visited Kanar and Nurgal; from Kfinar I went back to camp on a raft; it was the first time I had sat on one; it pleased me much, and the raft came into common use thereafter."

The naked swimmers are pushing the raft with all their might. On the raft Babur is calmly seated surrounded by his body-guards.

On 6^thMarch, 1506, Babur's first son Htunayun was born in the citadel of Kabul. A feast was arranged in the Chdr-Bagh. All the Begs brought presents, and dancers entertained the party.

DEER HUNTING IN 'ALI-SHANG AND ALANGAR MOUNTAINS

Artist, Tulsi

This painting by Tulsi, who specializes in drawing animals, depicts a hunting scene in Afghanistan. Apart from deer of different varieties, rabbits, foxes and wild sheep are also depicted. On a rock a chakor is perching. Babur describes this event as follows:

"On Saturday (29th) we hunted the hill between 'Ali-shang and Alangair. One hunting-circle having been made on the 'Ali-shang side, another on the Alangar, the deer were driven down off the hill and many were killed. Returning from hunting, we dismounted in a garden belonging to the Maliks of Alangar and there had a party."

'Ali-shang and Alangar are mountainous districts of Afghanistan bordering the Hindu-kush, inhabited by Kafirs who retained their old religion and did not embrace Islam. Babur describes that trees cover the banks of the streams of 'Ali-Shang and Alangdr below the fort. The fort shown in the painting is probably the same. He also mentions that the valley grows grapes, green and red, all trained on trees.

As a study of fauna of Afghanistan, this painting has considerable value. It also conveys the excitement of a hunt most vividly.

BABUR HUNTING RHINOCEROS NEAR BIGRAM (PESHAWAR)

This painting describes a hunting scene dated 10th December, 1526 near Bigram (Pesha-war). Babur crossed the river Siyalh-fib, and formed a hunting circle down-stream. He records.

"After a little, a person brought word that there was a rhino in a bit of jungle near Bigram, and that people had been stationed near-about it. We betook ourselves, loose rein, to the place, formed a ring round the jungle, made a noise, and brought the rhino out, when it took its way across the plain. Humdyun and those come with him from that side (Tramoun-tana), who had never seen one before, were much entertained. It was pursued for two miles; many arrows were shot at it; it was brought down without having made a good set at manor horse. Two others were killed. I had often wondered how a rhino and an elephant would be-have if brought face to face; this time one came out right in front of some elephants the mahauts were bringing along, it did not face them when the mahauts drove them towards it, but got off in another direction."

In the sixteenth century rhinos were found as far north as Peshawar and Sind. Now they are no longer to be seen in these areas. At present rhinos are preserved in the game sanctuaries of Assam and northern Bengal.

THE BATTLE OF PANIPAT

Babur invaded India for the fifth time in 1525. He defeated Daulat Khan Lodi and occupied Punjab. He marched through Jaswan dun, Rapar, Banur, Arnbala, Shahabad, and reached Panipat on 12th April, 1525. He collected seven hundred carts, which were joined togehter with ropes of raw hide. Between every two carts mantelets were fixed, behind which matchlockmen were posted. Opposing him was Ibrahim Lodi's army of 1,00,000 men and one thousand elephants. Mustafa, his commander of artillery made excellent use of his guns.

Babur records,

"Mustafa the commissary for his part made excellent discharge of zarb-zan shots from the left hand of the centre. Our right, left, centre and turning-parties having surrounded the enemy rained arrows down on him and fought ungrudgingly. He made one or two small charges on our right and left but under our men's arrows, fell back on his own centre. His right and left hands (qui) were massed in such a crowd that they could neither move forward against us nor force a way for flight.

"When the incitement to battle had come, the Sun was spear-high; till mid-day fighting had been in full force; noon passed, the foe was crushed in defeat, our friends rejoicing and gay. By God's mercy and kindness, this difficult affair was made easy for us!"

Ibrahim lay dead among thirty thousand of his soldiers, and Babur emerged the winner.

The painting shows the battle-scene. Between the guns, soldiers armed with bows and arrows are making sallies. It is surprising that hills are shown in the background. The battle-field of Panipat is a flat plain. Drummers are beating drums to infuse courage among the attackers. On the top of the painting is shown the town of Panipat

 SQUIRRELS, A PEACOCK AND A PEA-HEN, SARUS CRANES AND FISHES

Artist, Bhawani

Babur appropriately starts his account of the birds of India with the peacock, the national bird of India.

"The peacock (Ar. Taus) is a beautifully coloured and splendid bird. Its form (andam) is not equal to its colouring and beauty. Its body may be as large as the crane's (tüawa) but it is not so tall. On the head of both cock and hen are 20 or 30 feathers rising some 2 or 3 inches high. The hen has neither colour nor beauty. The head of the cock has an iridescent collar (tauq sfisani); its neck is of a beautiful blue; below the neck, its back is painted in yellow, parrot-green, blue and violet colours. The flowers on its back are much the smaller; below the back as far as the tail-tips are larger flowers painted in the same colours. The tail of some peacocks grows to the length of a man's extended arms. It has a small red tail, under its flowered feathers, like the tail of other birds. Its flight is feebler than the pheasants; it cannot do more than one or two short flights. Hindustani call the peacock mor."

This painting is by Bhawani, who excels in painting birds and animals. On the top squirrels are playing on a tree. In the middle, a peacock and a pea-hen are shown, below a pair of sarus cranes, and in the pond a pair of fishes. It is one of the best paintings of birds and animals in this Babur Nama.

BABUR CROSSING THE RIVER SON OVER A BRIDGE OF BOATS

Artist, Jagnath

This painting depicts an incident which took place on 14th April, 1529 when Babur marched through Bihar and crossed the river Son by a bridge of boats. He had given names to the prominent boats; a large one built in Agra was named Araish (Repose). Another presented by Araish Khan was named Araish (Ornament). Another large-sized one was named Gunjaish (Capacious). In it he had another platform set up, on the top of the one already in it. To a little skiff was given the name of Farmaish (Commissioned). Babur thus narrates this incident:

"I left that ground by boat on Thursday. I had already ordered the boats to wait, and on getting up with them, I had them fastened together abreast in line. Though all were not collected there, those there were greatly exceeded the breadth of the river. They could not move on, however, so-arranged, because the water was here shallow, there deep, here swift, there still. A crocodile (gharial) shewing itself, a terrified fish leaped so high as to fall into a boat; it was caught and brought to me."

Babur is sitting on the platform of the Gunjaish, surrounded by attendants. In the fore-ground is a boat into which, a fish has leapt. Two soldiers armed with muskets are firing at the crocodile. All the on-lookers are sharing the excitement which the incident has provided.

Writer – M.S. Randhawa

Introduction to Dharma

June 21, 2013, 10:12 pm

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The aim of the Hindu being to break this chain of birth and rebirth that binds him to the earth, the first step to be taken on this path is for each one to perform well his own dharma or righteous duties. Hinduism is unique because it differentiates between the duties of man and man, as also between the duties to be followed at various stages of one's life. Lord Rama's dharma as an exile for 14 years was different to his later dharma as a ruler. The teacher, the nurse, the priest, a mother or father each has to follow his or her own dharma. Duties, whatever they are, have to be performed with excellence and moral purity as the goal.

The concept of Dharma is fundamental to Hinduism, as it is believed that it is only through the pursuit of Dharma that there is social harmony and peace in the world. The pursuit of Adharma (a path that rejects righteousness) leads to conflicts, discord and imbalance.

The saying, Dharanat Dharmah' means Dharma sustains the world and it is that which holds the world together. It is duty performed with righteousness, with discipline and moral and spiritual excellence. Varnashrama Dharma is fundamental to Hindu belief and includes the duties of the various occupations, orders and classes (Varna) and the duties in the four stages (ashramas) of one's life. It enjoins that each person's dharma or duty depends on his occupation, position, moral and spiritual development, age and marital status.

The Caste System

Although the caste system has now been legally abolished, it is interesting to know its origin. The original meaning of the word `varna' was order or class of people. When the Indo-Aryans invaded the country, they came across the local inhabitants whom they called Dasas or Dasyus. Instead of destroying them after conquest, as has happened in other civilizations, they absorbed them by giving them a lower but definite place in their society.

In time this system came to be four-tiered, with four classes, the Brahmanas or Brahmins (not to be confused with the Brahman) who were the teachers and priests, the Kshatriyas or warriors and rulers, the Vaishyas, those who followed commercial occupations, and the Sudras who performed manual labour and were also farmers and agriculturists. The word 'varna' therefore implied the social order and not caste, as even Manu has given the difference between Varna (class or order) and jati (sect of birth or caste). A man's Varna depended as much on his mental and physical equipment as on heritage. Therefore it was a fluid state. A Brahmin for example, was one who evolved with the guna or qualities and performed the karma, or action, enjoined on a Brahmin. (It was only later that the word `varna' came to mean colour.)

The jails (or sects) in time became more important than the four main classes. These were mainly occupational (like the goldsmith jail, the weaver jati, the carpenter jail etc.) and served the purpose of guilds which protected the interests of their members, trained the young and saw to it that no outsider entered the fold. In time these jails or sects grouped themselves under the main classes which is why we speak today of four castes. However, it is not the caste of a man but his sect that is important to this day. Even today these sects often do not permit fluidity of movement, even where the old occupations have broken down and new ones have come in.

The untouchables or outcastes were originally those who had broken certain caste rules. For example, the Nayadis, who were considered outcastes of the lowest order, were originally Brahmins who were excommunicated for some reason. Also later the Hindus, who were originally meat-eaters, slowly changed their eating habits to vegetarianism, especially the Brahmins and Vaishyas who were influenced by early Buddhism and Jainism. With this change, those who ate beef or the meat of certain proscribed animals came to be considered outcastes or untouchables, as, by this time, the cow had come to be regarded akin to a mother, the people, being largely rural, having to depend on the cow's products for sustenance. (This is why the cow is given the reverence due to a mother in Hindu society to this day.)

However there is no religious sanction whatsoever in Hinduism to the concept of untouchability although later additions on the subject were inserted into the earlier scriptures to justify its existence. It was a purely social practice introduced by the upper castes to provide themselves with menial labour to perform certain tasks repulsive to themselves such as those of cemetery keepers, scavengers and cleaners. Hindu society has much to answer for this inhuman treatment of a whole section of its own people, but the Hindu religion had nothing to do with it.

These four classes were not as rigid in ancient times as they became later. In the Upanishads is the story of Satyakama, neither son of a servant maid, Jabala, who did not know his gotra or clan of origin as even his mother did not know who his father was nor his caste. He went to a great teacher known for his wisdom that took young Brahmin boys as disciples, and told him the truth of his parentage. He gave his name as Satyakama Jabala, after his mother. The Guru, impressed with the truthfulness of the young man, initiated him as a Brahmachari or student under him. He then gave him 400 head of cattle and asked him to take them to the forest and to return only when these became a thousand in number.

While living in the forest alone for years, Satyakama learnt of the Brahman, the Absolute, from communing with Nature, from the clouds in the skies, from the music of the birds, from the trees and the flowers and from the beauty of all Creation around and about him.

After he had 1000 head of cattle he returned. When his Guru gazed at the brilliant, shining face of his pupil, he knew that the young man had realised the Brahman and had only to complete this knowledge by study with his teacher. Although only Brahmins were initiated into higher religious education not birth alone but aptitude also permitted the upward movement of the castes in Upanishadic times, as seen by the beautiful story of Satyakama Jabala.

The great Brahmin Rishi, Vyasa, was born when Parashara, the grandson of the Rishi Vasishta, fell in love with a beautiful dark-skinned woman of the fisher tribe, later named Satyavati. The child born to them was named Krishna Dvaipayana, after his dark colour (krishna) taken after his mother, and the island (dvipa) on which he was born. Only later did he become known as Veda Vyasa. Yet his knowledge of the Vedas determined his caste as a Brahmin Rishi and not his birth to a fisherwoman of a low caste. 


Vyasa is often worshipped as divinity in human form, so great is the regard given to him by Hindus through the ages. His birth to a tribal fisherwoman was not looked down upon, nor did it affect his position as a Brahmin sage of the highest caste. 

(Similarly Valmiki, the author of the epic, the Ramayana, was a hunter of the lowest caste who came to be considered a Brahmin Rishi by virtue of his erudition.) Satyavati subsequently married Santanu, King of Hastinapura. Her son Vichitravirya could not bear any children and her step-son, Bhishma, would not do so in view of a promise given to his late father not to marry or bear children, so that Satyavati's progeny would rule the kingdom.

According to the Niyoga custom of the times, on the death of a childless man or even if he were alive but could not father children, his brother could father children on his behalf. When it was found that her sons could not bear children, the great queen, Satyavati, called on the son born to her through Sage Parashara, the Sage Vyasa, and asked him to father children by her two daughters-in-law, which he did. A servant woman of the palace approached Vyasa in a spirit of great devotion and to her was born Vidura considered again one of the greatest of Brahmin sages (in view of his wisdom and knowledge of the Dharma Shastras) in spite of his mother being a servant woman of the lowest caste.

It was from the sons of Vyasa that the Pandavas and the Kauravas were descended. Their great-grandmother, Satyavati, belonged to a fisher tribe and their great-grandfather, Parashara, was a Brahmin sage. Yet because they were princes of the royal house of Hastinapura, they were considered Kshatriyas. In actual fact they were not so by birth, only by occupation, once again proving that caste was purely occupational.

Utanga, a childhood Brahmin friend of Krishna, took a boon from him that, in his wanderings, Krishna would provide him with water whenever he needed it. Once, when he felt very thirsty, he thought of the Lord and suddenly a Nishada (an outcaste hunter) appeared before him clothed in filthy rags, and offered water from his animal-skin water-bag. Utanga refused it and berated Krishna in his mind, as he felt he had not kept to his promise. 

The Nishada tried to persuade Utanga again and again to drink the water but Utanga was adamant. The hunter then disappeared and the Lord appeared before Utanga and told him that he had sent Indra, King of the Devas, as a hunter with amrita, the nectar of immortality. Since Utanga had not shown any wisdom but had continued to differentiate between man and man based on externals such as caste, he had missed the rare chance of attaining immortality. The moral of this story is obvious.

The disciples of the great philosopher, Adi Shankara, once asked a Chandala (an outcaste), to move away from his path. "Who are you and who am I? Is the Self within me different from yours?" queried the Chandala (believed to be Shiva in disguise). Shankara, realising the wisdom of these words, prostrated before the Chandala saying, "One who is established in the Brahman, be he a low-born Chandala or a twice-born Brahmin, verily I declare him my Guru".

As late as in the 8^th century, an untouchable could be considered a Guru by one born a brahmin like Adi Shankara.

Writer – Shakunthala Jagannathan

Introduction to Early Pandya, Seventh to Ninth Century A.D.

June 30, 2013, 10:24 pm

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Like the Pallava king Mahendravarman, who was converted by Appar, the older contemporary of Tirujnanasam-bandar, Arikesari Parankusa, the Pandyan king, was re-claimed from Jainism by the saint, Tirujnanasam-bandar, in the latter half of the seventh century A. D. This king with the zeal of a new convert and with the enthusiastic support of his queen advancedhis faith.

During the time of Simhavishnu, who overcame the Pandyas, his son Mahendravarman and grandson Narasimhavarman, who dominated in the South during his time, as the vanquisher of even Pulakesin of the Western Chalukya dynasty, Pallava influence was dominant in the South. The Pandya king Maravarman Rajasimha, also known as Pallavabhanjana, found it a favourable moment to attack the Pallavas during the time of Nandivarman Pallavamalla. His son Nedunjadayan had a minister uttarantantri Marangari alias Madhurakavi, who excavated a temple for Vishnu in the Annamalai hill in the neighbor-hood of Madurai and recorded it in an inscription. It is this history of the early Pandyas which should help us under-stand why both the cave temples and the rock-cut free standing temples of the Pandyas so closely resemble and recall those of the early Pallavas.

The Pandyas, like the Chalukyas, were frequently fighting the Pallavas, but nevertheless were struck with the beauty of the Pallava cave temples and monolithic shrines.

They had also a matrimonial alliance with the Pallavas as in the case of Kochchadayan, the father of Maravarman Rajasimha, and the aesthetic taste of a princess of the Pallava line would not have gone without self-expression, specially when we remember that Rangapataka, the queen of Pallava Rajasimha, associated herself with her husband in the construction of lovely temples at Kanchipuram, and this artistic taste was inborn in their family. It is no wonder therefore that, considering the proximity of the Pallava country, with the Chera power practically eclipsed at the time, the Pandyas adopted the ideas of the Pallavas in architecture, sculpture and painting.

In the Tirumalaipuram cave temple, there are fragments discovered by Professor Jouveau Dubreuil to show specimens of the painter's art in the early Pandyan period. The cave closely resembles the Pallava caves of Mahendravarman. Though most of the paintings here are obliterated, the few that remain show the dexterity of the painter in portraying such themes as the swan or the duck and lotuses in bud and bloom in pleasing patterns covering the ceiling and on the pillar brackets.

There are also themes like hunters and their wives, one of whom is shown carrying a wild boar after a hunt. This theme of bacchanalian orgies suggests traces of foreign influence, which is explained by the fact that the Pandyan kingdom was a rich commercial centre, with contacts all over the civilised world, specially with Rome, from the early centuries of the Christian era. The pearls of the Pandyan fisheries were greatly in demand in Rome and a regular colony of Yavanas existed at Madurai.

To Professor Jouveau Dubreuil, we owe the discovery of paintings similar to those at Ajanta in Sittannavasal. These are in the best tradition of classical art and were originally believed to be Pallava. It is now found that there are two layers of paintings, an earlier one and a later one, as also an inscription which proves that what were originally reckoned Pallava are really Pandyan paintings of the ninth century A.D.

The ceiling of the cave contains a picture of a magnificent lake with beautiful buffaloes, geese and fish frolicking amidst lotuses in bud and bloom, in the gathering of which some youths are shown engaged. The figures are drawn with great care and delicacy of feeling. The most magnificent of the paintings, however, are the king wearing a lovely crown and accompanied by his queen, with an umbrella raised over both, and two female dancers of exquisite grace and proportions, all presented on the cubical parts of the pillars of the mandapa. Much of this has been ruined by weather and vandalism. There is still enough left to help us judge the skill of the painter during the early phase of Pandyan rule. The coiffure of the dancers, the lines composing the face, the contour of the body in beautiful flexions, the attitude of the hands in rhythmic dance motion is the work of a great master. The grace of the crown with minute details of workmanship and the dignity of the royal figure in the company of his consort cannot be praised too highly.

Writer – C. Shivaramamurti

Dhundar school Paintings

July 1, 2013, 9:24 pm

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In ancient times the regions in and around Jaipur were known as Dhundar. Most parts of Alwar, Jaipur, Shekhawati are still called Dhundar Pradesh. Some scholars are of the opinion that this province acquired the name because of a demon called Dhund. But other scholars hold the view that this province, with shifting sand dunes, was recognised as Dhundar Pradesh.' The Dhund river might also be considered the principal basis for its name.

Under the banner of the Dhundar school, we may study the Amber, Jaipur, Alwar and Shekhawati styles, and the Uniara substyle among others. Dhundar Pradesh has its own distinct features and geographical boundaries. In touch with the centre of gravity of the administration, Delhi, and with the centre of culture, Braj, the Dhundar style of painting had continued its pace of development through various new forms from time to time.

Amber Style

The Amber style is the rich heritage of the rajas of the Kacchava and Kush dynasties. In the 10^th-11^thcenturies they had a large kingdom around Gwalior. In 1071, Sod Deo along with his son Dullaha Rai came to Dhundar Pradesh and steadily expanded their kingdom. Their descendants made Amber their capital, and this city held this position for seven centuries.' Ancient specimens of the Amber style of painting are not available. Frescoes drawn around 1600-1614 upon cenotaphs in Amber are the oldest available pieces of this style.' Paintings in the cenotaph of Bhar Mal acquire great significance from the historical point of view. Inside the cenotaph a panel of these 40 paintings depicts the early history of the Amber style.

These paintings were drawn straight upon the stone without having made them in the prevalent Jaipur Arais style. Each painting is based upon a definite principle. According to subject matter these paintings include scenes of hunting, incarnation, wrestling, yoga, Laila-Majnu, rag-ragini, elephant, camel and fighting among animals.

Original colours like garun, safeda , kaluns were used in these paintings. Drawing had been made either in red or black and colour was applied on the figures. The strong influence of the paintings of the period in reigns of Akbar and Jehangir is clearly discernible in these paintings. Besides the impact of artistic folk art a circular jamma with four pointed edges and Jehangiri turban are some special characteristics of these paintings. Women in Rajasthani attire, including ghagra, odhni, blouse, adorned with Mughal style ornaments are frequently seen in such paintings.

Besides the cenotaphs of Amber, frescoes in the Amber style may be noticed in the so-called Mughal garden of Bairath, in which themes like rag-ragini, Krishna-Lila, nayika-bhed, Laila-Majnu, wrestlers, elephant riding, horse riding, camel riding were painted. To study the early stage of the Amber style, these paintings deserve careful scrutiny.'

Mojamabad, adjoining Jaipur, was also a centre of the early Amber style. A cenotaph of Mojamabad which possessed frescoes in this style is now in ruins. The Amber style has been much influenced by the Mughal style.

In the middle of the 16^thcentury the rajas of Rajasthan began to bow to the mighty Mughal Empire. In 1562, Akbar signified his good relations with the kingdom of Amber by marrying the daughter of Raja Bhar Mal.  In the reign of Raja Man Singh (1589-1610), the Kacchava dynasty of Amber maintained very close relations with the Mughals.

The cenotaphs of Amber, the gardens of Bairath and Mojamabad, the birthplace of Raja Man Singh, have frescoes which were greatly influenced by the Mughal style. The famous pictorial text Rajina-Namali (1584-1588) compiled at the court of Akbar and preserved in the city Palace Museum, Jaipur, provides very useful information about the initial growth of the Amber style and details regarding artistic exchanges.

The second stage of development of this style commenced in the reign of Mirza Raja Jai Singh (1625-1667). The renowned Ritikaleen poet Bihari was one of his courtiers. Bihari-Satsai deeply influenced many artists. Paintings belonging to this age are rarely available. They exhibit the salient features of folk art (Pl. 30) and the impact of the Mughal school.

Salient Features

The style possesses its own characteristics, in which the structure of bodies of both male and female has been much influenced by Rajasthani folk art. Because of their kinship with the Mughals mutual cultural exchange was natural. Hence the impact of ornamented dresses belonging to the periods of Akbar and Jehangir is discernible.

Jamma with four pointed edges and later circular jamma and tight-fitting pyjama, Jehangiri turban style, dress like that worn by Chhagtai women, are quite visible in the Amber style. Black phulitline on hands hagra, odlmi are closely linked with Rajasthani style.

Poor quality of line is seen in the Apbhransh style, and so are natural colours like hirmich, kaluns, safeda, pewari, extensively used in the shape of animals, birds and trees as in folk art. In sum and substance, the Amber style has its own constitution quite visible in these frescoes and in some pictorial texts.

Jaipur Style

The Jaipur style has inherited the Amber style as a cultural legacy. Or it may be presumed that the Amber style itself grew in a new environment at the time of founding Jaipur city, and since then it has been called the Jaipur style. Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh  laid the foundation of Jaipur in 1727 and constructed it as his new capital instead of Amber. He had the distinction of being a great astronomer, astrologer, mathematician and keen lover of art. Hence he had built many beautiful and majestic buildings like the observatory, Chandra Mahal, Jai Niwas Bagh, Talkatora, Sisodia Rani Palace and thus gave a new cultural direction to Jaipur.

Jaipur, because of is architectural charm, pleasant combination of colours and scientifically laid out plan, is known as the Pink City of India. Owing to its traditional miniatures, artistic cottage industries, existing festivals and colourful dress Jaipur has been a great cultural centre since its inception.

The newly laid out city attracted architects, artists and other learned personalities from every part of the country. The traditional Kacchava or Amber style preferred tender drawings. Because of the close ties with the Mughal court, the impact of the Mughal style became more pronounced in this period. Muhammad Shah was a court artist of great skill. Because of the powerful cultural impact of the Mughals some doubts about paintings of this period are often heard.

Sawai Jai Singh's son Raja Ishwari Singh (1743-1750) was a great Tantric. In his reign he was engaged in a constant struggle with the Mahrattas and ended his life with a dose of poison. But in his short rule he constructed an iser latt to commemorate his victories over the Mahrattas.

In his time, Sahib Ram, a chittara, emerged as a talented artist. He painted a portrait of Raja Ishwari Singh with the help of Chandras which has been recognized as of high quality. Another famous artist of his period was Latt Chittara, who had painted many pictures depicting animals and birds in struggle. These pictures are very lively.

In the reign of Sawai Madho Singh I (1751-1767), consistent instability prevailed because of differences between Jats and Mahrattas, but still Sisodia Rani Palace and Chandra Palace were adorned with frescoes. The traditional frescoes of Jaipur had reached the portals of have! is. The havelis of Pundrik deserve special notice.

Sahib Ram earned the reputation of being a seasoned artist in this period. He painted large-sized portraits with Ramji Dass and Govindji, two more artists, while Lall Chittara continued to paint various royal sports. In paintings of this age the Mughal influence began to wane and a pure Rajput style showed signs of replacing it. In place of paintings the traditional ornamented Manikuttim style in which beads, red and wooden mannis, are pasted together, began to receive encouragement.

The reign of Maharaja Prithvi Singh (1767-1779) was short. Artists patronised by the state continued to pursue their vocation. Court artists Hira Nand and Trilok earned great fame. In 1778 they drew a life-sized portrait of their maharaja.

With his sudden death his younger brother Sawai Pratap Singh (1779-i803) took charge of the administration. He was a keen lover of art and literature and he added new chapters to the development of artistic and literary activities in the state. He was drawn towards religion and poetry, and he composed poems under his pen name Braj Niddhi. He also dedicated himself to Pushti Marg, which had developed his devotion to the Krishna-Bhakti cult. Twenty-one texts he compiled are still available. The world famous Hawa Mahal was built in his regime. Pritam Niwas, adorned with traditionally artistic doors, Diwan-e-Aam, the upper floors of Chandra Mahal, were designed by him as well as built under his guidance.

As he was both poet and devotee many poets and artists congregated at his court. The seasoned artist Sahib Ram continued to practise his art there. Three pictures he painted have been hailed as unique specimens of his painting. Two are portraits of the maharaja and the third a dance pose of Radha-Krishna.

In this period themes relating to this of Radha-Krishna, nayika-bheda, rag-ragini, ritu-varnan were extensively portrayed. Large-sized portraits of raja-rani, many paintings concerning Bhagwad-Puran, Durga-Saptshati, Krishna-Lila de-serve special mention here." Other artists besides Sahib Ram included Jeevan, Chassi, Salig Ram, Raghu Nath, Ram Sevak, Copal, Udai, Hukma, Chimna, Daya Ram, Raju, Niranjan who deserve special notice. They worked on both frescoes and miniatures in the Jaipur style.

This style of painting continued to flourish till the reign of Sawai Jagat Singh (1803-1818). The renowned traditional poet Padamakar lived in his court. He linked the Jaipur royal house with Bihari Satsai after having compiled. Jagad Vinod." Paintings titled Goverdhan Dharan and Ras-Mandal are exquisite examples of the art of that age.

After Sawai Jagat Singh the original form of the Jaipur style did not last long once the impact of British culture began to be felt. In the period of this maharaja, artists began to pursue painting in the representational style. Portraits were drawn like photographs.

After studying this new trend the maharaja set up the Maharaja's School of Arts and Crafts and thus gave a new direction to the local style of painting. According to his directive, the whole city was painted pink. The traditional beauty of Jaipur thus vanished into oblivion. 

The Jaipur style was not confined to the royal court but flourished and developed at adjoining centres belonging to feudal lords related to the Jaipur family. From time to time pictures had been painted at Iserda, Siwar, Jhillaya, Chommu, Malpura and Samod. The artistic activities of some centres of these feudal lords had emerged in the new style with many distinctive features.

At Uniara a new substyle developed, combining both Jaipur and Bundi styles. Frescoes of the palaces of Uniara and miniatures preserved in private collections of the Uniara royal family and Sangram Singh testify to this fact. Paintings in the palace of Samod were also drawn on the basis of the traditional frescoes of the Jaipur style.

Generally speaking, the traditions of frescoes available in palaces, temples and havelis had spread far and wide. The style of decorations which had adorned temples, cenotaphs and havelis in Shekhawati during the 19th century was influenced by frescoes of the Jaipur style.

Salient Features

The early Jaipur style being in accordance with the traditional Amber style and because of contacts with the Mughal court had flourished under the Mughal influence. But by and by it acquired the originality of Rajput culture, which had exhibited the predominance of the folk art character and grandeur of Rajputs in paintings of the Jaipur style.

The haveli of Pratap Narain, along with traditions of drawing frescoes in Galta, the haveli of Pundrik, Chandra Mahal, Sisodia Rani Palace and the palatial buildings of Nagar-Shreshthis and temples with hundreds of pictorial texts, thousands of miniatures and life-sized and larger portraits are specimens of the legacy of the Jaipur style.

According to Sangram Singh, the Jaipur style possesses the following significant features.

In the Jaipur style artists had infused a new tradition of painting life-sized portraits. Early pictures had certainly been drawn in a traditional style. Thou-sands of portraits and group paintings are salient features of the Jaipur style, in which portraits of feudal lords, artists and group paintings of royal processions, mehfils, utsav, colourful hunting scenes had been specially made. In the tradition of miniatures and pictorial texts, Geet-Govind, Ramayan, Krishna, Durga-Saptshati, Mahabharat, rag-ragini, barah-masa, nayika-bhed, the art of pleasure was extensively painted.

The fresco tradition is the main feature of the Jaipur style. In the Amber style, in palaces, temples, cenotaphs and havelis, arais was applied after the construction of Jaipur city and drawing of frescoes had become an integral part of architecture. This tradition gained great popularity in the 19^th century and the seals of Shekha-wati built palatial new havelis in accordance with the new economic order in their respective towns and decorated them with a variety of paintings.

Artists in the Jaipur style applied deep reds in drawing margins on paintings. White, red, yellow were extensively utilised. Applications of gold and silver were also made.

In paintings of this style men and women appear in proportion. Male figures have clean, attractive faces. They are often depicted with swords tied to their waists. Regarding ornamented dress, males are shown wearing sehra tied with turra kalangi.

Wealthy men are shown wearing turban, kurta, pyjama, chogga, angrakin, belt, pataka, shoes in such paintings.

Female figures are shown with large eyes, bunch of long hair, stout physique and pleasant mood. Like other Rajasthani styles in this style too female figures adorned with tikka, toti, ball, necklace, hansli, satlan, tevta, kantha, banwanti, bangles, payajeb were depicted. In drawing dresses blouse, kurta, clupatta, lehnga, besor tilak and embroidered shoes were frequently used. Artists drew elegant gardens to provide the background in paintings. Lion, tiger, sheep, goat, camel, horse, ox, peacock, duck, parrot were painted to suit a picture's theme.

After 1950, because of the introduction of photography, coupled with foreign influences in art and architecture, foreign themes were introduced and assimilated in the Jaipur style, and the original characteristics of the style began to deteriorate slowly.

Uniara Substyle

The wall-paintings of the palace of Uniara Thikana in Tonk district, the 'miniatures' from the personal collection of Rao Raja Rajendra Singh of Uniara and also the paintings from the personal collection of Kumar Sangram Singh, bear their own identity and these can be classified under Jaipur substyle. Situated on the border of Jaipur and Bundi States, Uniara Thikana imbibed the impact of Bundi

art due to matrimonial relations, and the influence of Jaipur art also on account of blood-relations thereby evolving a new style of painting which is known as Uniara substyle.

The descendants of Naruji of the Amber Kachhwahas came to be known as 'Naruka'. In his lineage Rao Chandra Bhan Dasawant (1586-1660) fighting for the Mughals displayed remarkable valour in the Kandhar Battle (1606). Pleased by his chivalry the Mughal emperor bestowed upon him the four parganas of Uniara, Nagar, Kakor and Banetha.

In the fifth generation of Rao Chandra Bhan was born an ardent art-lover Rao Raja Sardar Singh (1740-77) who built magnificent palaces in Uniara and Nagar, and patronised artists like Dheema, Meer Bagas, Kashi, Ram Lakhan and Bhim etc. A close observation of the wall-paintings of Nagar and Uniara palaces reveals the collective influence of Bundi and Jaipur substyles on them.

While Nagar wall-paintings show the total impact of Bundi style, Uniara paintings especially manifest the two-fold influence of Bundi and Jaipur styles. The wall-paintings of the ruined palace are greatly artistic, and these cover a variety of topics. Here we have paintings like Barahmasa based on Keshav's Kavi Priya, Ragragini, portraits of kings and a number of religious drawings. Among the portraits of kings, the personal portraits of Naruji, Dasaji, Chandra Bhan, Fateh Singh, Sangram Singh, Sardar Singh, Jaswant Singh, Bisan Singh, Bhim Singh, Budh Singh of Bundi, the kings of Jaipur, Kota, Mewar etc. have been painted with utmost excellence. Among the religious paintings, Krishna Leela, various incarnations, Shiva-Parvati are remarkably noteworthy.

The Uniara substyle is also revealed through the 'manuscripts' and miniature paintings. The Bhagwad Puran, Ramayan and a number of 'miniatures' from the personal collection of Rao Raja Rajendra Singh are very important from the point of view of art. In the personal collection of Kumar Sangram Singh lots of 'miniatures' are available among which the paintings of Zanani and Mardani Mehfil (Men and Ladies' Concerts) are worthy of special mention. Some paintings can also be sighted in the National Museum, New Delhi.

On the basis of the achievements of above wall-paintings, 'manuscripts' and 'miniatures', the Uniara substyle has acquired a distinct form in which a new tradition of painting emerged from an amalgamation of two styles. The Uniara Thikana following the Kushwaha cultural tradition was under the domain of Jaipur state, and as such the Uniara substyle bears the stamp of total impact of Jaipur style in terms of structure, colour-scheme, and dresses etc.

A number of Jaipur painters have also contributed to this style. On account of the geographical proximity, located near Bundi as it is, and also due to the marriage of the daughter of Rao Raja Sardar Singh with Bundi King Dalel Singh, the Bundi painters had a chance to visit Uniara, and as such the total influence of Bundi style is marked on the architecture, natural-setting, face-structure and the decoration of these paintings.

In view of the Nagar and Uniara wall-paintings, there is a great scope for further work on this substyle.

Shekhawati Style

Studies of painting have also brought the Shekhawati region into the limelight. Traditional drawings of frescoes in the Amber and Bairath styles and paintings created in palaces, temples and particularly in the havelis of Jaipur influenced the Shekhawati region, and the haveli style of painting, music, architecture engulfed it.

In the 15^th century Shekhaji, grandson of Mokulji, earned a great reputation for being a brave man, as great in the art of war as in imparting justice, who had set up an independent kingdom which acquired much fame as Shekhawati state. This territory is an integral part of the Rajasthan desert and is recognised as the confluence of wealth, education and art. Known as Marukan tar in the Ramayana and Mahabharata ages, this territory, engulfed within the boundaries of Matsya Pradesh, should be treated as lying within the campus of the Dhundar school.

In ancient days, this part of the land being surrounded by dangerous and dense forests and rich in deposits of copper was a great centre of culture. Recent archaeological excavations at Ganeshwar, ten kilometres from Neem-ka-Thana, revealed thousands of spikes of arrows, pointed edges of spears, ornaments, fish hooks and axes belonging to the copper age. A civilisation 5,000 years old has been discovered and proves beyond doubt that the copper used in the Harappan and Mohenjodaro and Indus Valley civilisations was procured only from this site. So old and abundant were these prehistoric utensils made of copper that they were not available else-where in the world."

The Ganeshwar civilisation would undoubtedly herald a new era in the annals of archaeology. Remnants of the Mahabharata and Ramayana and Bodh ages are sometimes discovered in Shekhawati. The influence of the art of Gurjara-l'ratiharas spread in wide areas of Shekhawati. Many spots like Jodhpura, Sunari, Harsh Nath, Shakambari remained as great centres of art and culture.

But the decline of painting in the Shekhawati region should be considered from the point of view of construction of havelis. After the establishment of British rule in Rajasthan capitalists of this area expanded their horizons of commercial activity. They entered into partnership with the British in trade and by dint of their initiative and unlimited boldness and with their jugs and ropes migrated to Bombay and Calcutta.

Shekhawati merged with various commercial centres in the early part of the 19th century and due to the exodus of traders to pursue their business activities else-where this territory became the cradle of the goddess Lakshmi. Hence the Birlas of Pilani, Poddars of Nawalgarh, Bangurs of Baggar, Ruias of Ramgarh and Dalmia, Bajaj, Jaipuria occupied significant positions in the Indian economy. They constructed large havelis, temples and cenotaphs in their towns and had them deco-rated by artists. The art galleries of haveis and their internal and external perspectives were adorned with attractive paintings.

 As painting in havelis is a growth of the 19th century, it has been greatly influenced by folk art and the Company style. With the advent of the British, faster means of communication, new lifestyle, and development of new inventions, these wealthy traders painted their havelis on the British pattern. The cultural impact of the 19th century could well be studied in the Shekhawati style.

These havelis of seths laid out in vast areas were built on the principle of Bharatiya Shilpa-Shastra. Great scope exists to undertake the study of those located at Nawalgarh, Fatehpur, Laxmangarh, Mukundgarh, Churu, Sardar Sehar, Ramgarh from the point of view of artistic values and architectural principles. These were decorated with artistic wooden doors and gavaksh doors, and their front walls were adorned with paintings influenced by the Rajput and Company styles.

Interiors of havelis were painted as far as possible. In some havelis art galleries were established with engraved mirrors and gold polish." Entrance gates were decorated artistically. In the above-mentioned towns paintings expressing the moods of Radha-Krishna are abundantly visible in temples. Cenotaphs located at Reengus, Ramgarh, Bissau, Choori Ajitgarh were elaborately painted in an advanced stage of the Amber style.

There is not a single town in Shekhawati where havelis and temples have not been decorated with paintings. From the point of view of impact of painting, Shekhawati may be classified in three parts:

1. Region adjoining Jaipur: frescoes at Chommu, Samod, Reengus. Srimadhopur, Ajitgarh are greatly influenced by the Jaipur style. Their themes and colouring tend to be very close to that style.

2. Styles of paintings at Patan, Ganeshwar, Chhapoli, Khetri and many towns of Jhunjhunu were greatly influenced by the folk art of Haryana.

3. Effect of the Marwar school was very great at Nagore, towards Bikaner and towns located in the western part of Sikar. But even after this traditional impact the Shekhawati style appears to maintain its own characteristics.

Salient Features

1. Drawings of elephants and horses and guards were made in bold relief in the brackets of havelis.

2. Drawings of gods and goddesses were painted in sharp outlines on gavaksh and main gates.

3. Below projections, in spaces between todas artists skilfully painted themes like wrestling, churning, godohan, dhola-maru, nayika engaged in shringar, curious animals, birds, divine manifestations, demons, kant-kala, love, rag-ragini, barah-masa, saints and ascetics, folklore.

4. The exterior and interior walls of many havelis are covered with pictures showing the impact of the Company style and of industrialisation. Railway trains, motor vehicles, bicycles, sewing machines, aeroplanes, sofa sets and other articles belonging to the Victorian age may be seen. The impact of British rule brought great changes in manner of eating, style of dressing, way of living, which have been well depicted in these paintings.

Areas of Shekhawati like Sahapura, Ajitgarh, Patan, Khetri, Bissau, Pilani, Chirawa, Nawalgarh, Ramgarh, Baggar, Sikar, Reengus, Chommu, Samod, too could prove useful within limits for a special study of artistic growth.

Alwar Style

As a study of the Alwar style has never been undertaken, it has not come into the limelight. Occasional references have however been made to it by connoisseurs of art from time to time. In regard to painting, examination of available materials (frescoes), manuscripts, miniatures, plates of ivory, mica and wood reveal a style of painting no less impressive than other styles of Rajasthan.' Examples of this style are preserved in many museums, temples, palaces and in private collections yet to be researched.

Like other styles, the origin of this style is presumed to have taken place after the establishment of Alwar state. Rao Raja Pratap Singh (1756-1790), by his bravery, intelligent statesmanship and political ability created an independent kingdom after conquering parts of Bharatpur and Jaipur.' In 1770, after having laid out Rajgarh on a new pattern, he constructed a strong fortress there and made it his capital. About this time two artists named Dhalu Ram and Shiv Kumar migrated to Alwar from Jaipur." They presented some of their artistic work to the maharaja. Shiv Kumar is believed to have-returned to Jaipur but Dhalu Ram was appointed in charge of the state museum, which contained the private collection of pictures of the royal family.

Dhalu Ram was skilled in drawing frescoes. The beautiful frescoes in the Sheesh Mahal of Rajgarh fort were probably painted under his supervision. If we admit this view, these frescoes may be presumed to be the best specimens of the early stage of the Alvvar style.

About 30 kilometres from Alwar at Rajgarh, a beautiful palace of glass is located on the upper portion of the fortress. Paintings on perforated screens and lower walls deserve high praise. This Sheesh Mahal is located in two parts, a big hall about 25 feet by 12 feet and a verandah 25 feet by ten feet adjoining it from the north.

The ceiling of the hall is studded with glass of different colours, and white glass is engraved on the walls. At occasional spaces, many paintings were executed while the walls below the perforated screens are decorated with the foliage of trees.

The frescoes of this palace show a variety of themes, including paintings relating to Krishna-Chant, Ram-Chant, nayikas, the royal court, music which may be presumed to be early developments of the Alwar style. Paintings concerned Ram Lila, Goverdhan Dharan, Gocha ran, Hindola, Veni-gunthan, churning of milk and Ram's valour.

Raj Tilak and other artists are concerned with Krishna and Ram Lila. Among them, drawings of cows and seven coloured drawings deserve close attention. The drawings of Dhanush Bhang and Raj Tilak possess large dimensions, and elephant and horse riding revive memories of Ajanta.

Drawings of yawning nayikas removing a thorn, nayikas and maidservants engaged in beautification, are very pleasant. Paintings of women playing the tabla, sitar and sarangi are less pleasing. Scenes of the royal courts of Maharaja Pratap Singh and Bhaktawar Singh are painted on the walls. Blending of colours in various designs of foliage and the rhythm of the drawings are very impressive. Lines are very sharp and bold in relief.

The whole job was probably executed by an artist of great merit like Dhalu Ram. In the Sheesh Mahal of Rajgarh fort, the effect of the almond colour of the Ajanta style is very evident. Light green, blue and gold used in these paintings are impressive.

Sheesh Mahal was constructed around the period of Rao Raja Bhaktawar Singh (1790-1814) son of Rao Raja Pratap Singh. Bhaktawar Singh himself was a poet and keen lover of poetry. It is a sad reality that most of these paintings have started to deteriorate in the absence of patronage.

Bhaktawar Singh composed poetry under the names Chandra-Sakhi and Bhaktesh. Dan Lila is a very significant text he compiled. Having heard praise of Rao Raja's patronage of the arts, many artists from distant states came to Alwar, where their talents were suitably rewarded. In their period Alwar flourished culturally. Baldev Salga and Salig Ram were leading artists of the state.

Hundreds of paintings belonging to the time of Bhaktawar Singh are preserved in the State Museum, Alwar, which are worth seeing. Among them are pictures depicting the maharaja himself engrossed in religious conversation with naths and jogis, ascetics living in dense forests. They deserve special appreciation from the artistic point of view. Most of the paintings preserved in the museum belong to Bhaktawar Singh.

After Rao Raja Bhaktawar Singh, for having given a new direction to the Alwar style the credit goes to his successors Maharaja Vinay Singh (1814-1857) and Raja Balwant Singh (1826-1845) of Tijara. In their period the style reached its zenith.

Vinay Singh earned a big reputation among kings of Alwar for his keen love of art. He contributed towards the development of the Alwar style as much as Akbar did for the Mughal school.

Hearing he was a connoisseur of art and virtuous, many artists, architects, scientists and musicians thronged to his court to emulate his example. It was in this period of Bahadur Shah (1806-1837) and Bahadur Shah III (1837-1859) that the Mughal Empire with its capital Delhi began to shrink in size and disintegrate politically.

Maharajas Vinay Singh and Balwant Singh were great connoisseurs of art and enriched their museum after purchasing artistic items. They organised a big library after procuring many pictorial texts. Rare games and unique arms were procured to enrich their collections of jewellery and armouries, and having provided royal patronage to artists they gave a dynamic thrust to the art of painting. They had a golden opportunity to display their artistic talents in the reign of Vinay Singh. He had learnt this art from Baldev, who occupied a high position at the royal court. He had originally worked in the traditional Alwar style. Later, he produced beautiful paintings strongly influenced by the Mughal school.

Maharaja Vinay Singh was keenly interested in getting pictorial texts painted as well as scrolls of script paintings. Because of this he invited Gulamali, a seasoned artist, Aga Mirza of Delhi, a great calligrapher, and Nathha Shah Dervesh, a highly skilled bookbinder also of Delhi. Calligraphy and painting texts like the Ramayan, Mahabharat, Srimad Bhagwad Gita, Geet-Govind, Durga-Saptashati, Gulistan, Koran unmistakably reflect the keen devotion of Vinay Singh to artistic activities. Calligraphy and drawing of Gulistan were a unique feature of his reign. Creation of this text cost Rs. 1 lakh. Pictures of the text were drawn by Baldev and Gulamali. All the calligraphy of this work was formed with a pen made of sect ha. If a mistake appeared on any page the whole page was done all over again.

Many sets of paintings of rag-ragini in the Alwar style are still available. Most of them had been painted during his period. A set of barah masa based upon verses of an unknown poet Anand Ram belongs to this time.

Khawaswal queen, Moosi Maharani of Rao Raja Bhaktawar Singh had per-formed the rite of Satti alongwith Rao Raja having left her son. Her son Balwant Singh had created trouble to secure the throne himself. To avert armed conflict the northern part of the state was handed over to Balwant Singh in 1826. He had made Tijara his capital but died without issue in 1845. Tijara was thus merged with Alwar state again.

In his reign of 23 years he devoted himself to the pursuit of artistic values, and his great contribution in this regard is a memorable event in India's cultural history. He was a king keenly devoted to promoting the arts. At his royal court artists like Salig Ram, Jamuna Dass, Chhote La!, Baksa Ram and Nand Ram had painted pictorial texts, scrolls and miniatures extensively. Paintings by Jamuna Dass up to 1844 are available, and the names of Raja Balwant Singh and the artists who worked on these pieces are inscribed on them.

The paintings of Jamuna Dass, with their bold relief in line and soft, tender colour schemes are worth seeing. Paintings with the name of Baksa Ram belonging to this period are preserved in the state museums and in private collections of Maharajkumar Yashwant Singh of Alwar's family.

After the merger of Tijara, the artistic heritage and artists moved to Alwar. Vinay Singh and Balwant Singh enriched their museum there after buying works of art from the royal treasury and library of the Mughals. Historic pictures of Mughal emperors, books, a Shahi album, sets of miniatures, weapons, dresses and equipment studded with precious stones are regarded as the proud heritage of the museum which would shed new light on the history of the Mughals.

Diwanji ka Rang Mahal, built in the reign of Vinay Singh (1830) deserves careful study for its frescoes. In the tradition of frescoes in the Alwar style it is another significant specimen. The forefathers of Bal Mukund held the position of diwan of Alwar state from time to time and Bal Mukund (1783-1855) held it under Maharaja Bhaktawar Singh. He had also served as diwan to Vinay Singh. Brave and benevolent, he was also highly religious and a keen lover of art.

A manuscript was compiled by his grandson about the haveli and Sheesh Mahal around 1836-37. Diwan Bal Mukund had the havell constructed at the well of Munshi Bagh for his residential purposes. Very large, it is also sturdily built. Its gate is located in the west. A passage near this door leads to the Sheesh Mahal situated on the upper portion, in which gold workmanship of high quality and engraving of mirrors in various patterns and in different shades of colours had been performed.

This Sheesh Mahal was also constructed on the same plan as that of Rajgarh. A big room and a verandah in a northerly direction deserve admiration for architectural beauty. The walls of the room are studded with chips of white glass with paintings on a rectangular panel between the ceiling and the wall decorated with paintings depicting 24 incarnations, their six rag-raginis and various musical modes.

On the wall, attractive murals depicting Goverdhan-Dharan, Veni-Gunthan,, Hindola, Raj Tilak and mehfil have been painted. Paintings of nayikas and doorkeepers are also very pleasant to look at. From the point of recalling a sentimental experience the frescoes of the Alwar style are unique. Well preserved, their condition is better than those of Rajgarh, but on the whole the lines of this Rang Mahal and the application of colours do not display the kind of charm noticeable in the Sheesh Mahal of Rajgarh.

This Rang Mahal, built in the period of Vinay Singh (1814-1857) amid the old havelis of Alwar, still reminds of the glories of old. The construction of many temples and palaces and the workmanship of foliages in various shades of colour make us understand the Alwar style.

The Sheesh Mahal of the Raj Mahal at Alwar is in a dilapidated state. Built in the last days of Vinay Singh, in the midst of mahal paintings of Shiv-Parvati and Ganesh drawn in a big room, they do not pay such attention to detail.

These paintings depict clearly the impact of photography. In the adjoining room, miniatures painted on paper were pasted on the wall and covered with glass, but such types of frescoes could not be regarded as belonging to the traditions of fresco painting though such experiments could be noticed in many other palaces of Rajasthan.

After Vinay Singh the period of Sawai Shiv Dan Singh is no less significant from the point of view of painting. He was learned in Persian and Hindi and had a special love for painting and music. His artistic tastes were well suited to his luxury-loving temperament. Hundreds of erotic paintings based upon Kam-kala and drawn in his time are good artistically.

Being very fond of music, his court was crowded with saniras and dancing girls. Hundreds of such paintings depicting these gayikas are still available in private collections of the royal family, which show the effect of the Company's style besides that of photography.

In his time, an era of deterioration began in the Alwar style. With the Western impact the photograph began to receive greater prominence and the poetical beauty, sharpness of colour and bold relief in line and drawings of purdahs began to lose ground slowly.

Maharaja Mangal Singh, unlike his ancestors, had no love for the line Budha Ram, Udai Ram, Moo! Chand, Jagan Nath, Ram Gopal, Bishen Lal continued to maintain in the Alwar tradition of painting.

Budha Ram had mastered the art of drawing animals and birds. He held the position of daroga of the Sheesh Mahal of Rajgarh and the museum of Alwar. Mool Chand acquired expertise in painting ivory pieces. Many paintings drawn on pieces of ivory are a unique feature of the Alwar style.

The traditions of painting frescoes also flourished in temples and cenotaphs in Rajasthan. Alwar had not lagged behind in the art of frescoes. In temples built by the mother of Mangal Singh at Thana and Bhurassidih many paintings had been executed. But these paintings being of later dates are not so artistic. In the temples of Raj Mahal some scattered paintings are still available although they almost vanished in the absence of official protection. In the temple of Lacidu Khavasji glass was fixed over paintings made on paper on walls.

The frescoes drawn on cenotaphs belonging to Hanuvant Singh of Thana, Khavasji-ka-Bagh of Rajgarh, and the garden of Macchedi and on Tal Briksh, although time-worn exhibit glimpses of grandeur even today. Among them, a large number of paintings depicting the lilas of Ram and Krishna and scenes of the royal court and state processions were drawn. Certainly, the art of these cenotaphs had greatly influenced folk art. The effect of folk art is more pronounced in the arrangement of lines and choice of colours.

Examination of the frescoes of the Alwar style shows that the style of painting developed there had flowed in dual waves, one in engraving frescoes, and the other into pictorial texts and miniatures.

In the reign of Jai Singh, former Maharaja of Alwar, architecture, music and painting flourished. A large portrait of his shows a scene of one of his processions and deserves special mention. Ram Shaya Nepalia, who painted this picture, should be remembered. In the history of Rajasthani art, the contribution of artistslike Ram Gopal, Ram Prasad, Jag Mohan and Onkar Nath is no less significant.

Subject

As remarked earlier, the Alwar style attained diversity in regard to theme. In the royal courts of Rajputs,. mehfils, Krishna-Lila, Ram Lila, religious conversation with saints and ascetics in natural surroundings, rag-raginis had been extensively painted. Vinay Singh and Balwant Singh had specially got them painted like rag-ragini, barah-masa and pictorial texts in Hindi and Sanskrit which included the Mahabharat, Geeta, Ramayan, Shiv Kavacch, Durga-Saptashati, Geet-Govind, Kali Sahasra-Nama and Mahiman Stotra. Because of the contact with Muslim artists and feudal lords from the Mughal court, the Alwar style of painting was more influenced by the Mughal school and its themes in place of Rajput grandeur.

According to the selection of themes the third phase began from the time of Maharaja Shiv Dan Singh (1857). Because of the impact of photography portraits of individuals were made in large numbers. Hundreds of paintings concerning Ganikas and Kam-Shastra are still available. Yogasan was also treated as an important theme of the Alwar style. In this way the tendency towards painting individuals increased against drawing groups.

Salient Features

In early paintings, till the period of Bhaktawar Singh, all the salient features of Rajasthani painting are clearly noted in the Alwar style. Hence it becomes rather difficult to dissociate them from the Jaipur style. But still the effect of natural beauty, the way of living and physical characteristics of the state are clearly discernible in such paintings. These paintings, endowed with lyrical sentiment and folk art, appeal in line and colour.

In its most significant days a balanced coordination of the Rajasthani (particularly Jaipur) style and Mughal and Persian schools is clearly visible. Because of this coordination a separate identity could be given to the Alwar style. Figures of males were drawn like the mango or some curve was provided to the chin. Their stature is slightly short with raised bons, their limbs were drawn with great pains, and these represent salient features of the Alwar style.

The local effect is seen in the tie-and-dye work of the turbans. The impact of Rajput and Mughal styles upon the dress of male and female is largely evident. The natural perspective of Alwar may be viewed in paintings of this style with drawings of forests, gardens, kunj, palaces and so on.

Construction of beautiful vaslian adorned with attractive foliage is a remarkable characteristic of the Alwar style. Trade in these vaslis continued to flourish till 1947. Merchants bought vaslis designed with foliage from there and covered them with old paintings, and thus greatly enhanced their beauty. Application of bright colours made these paintings very attractive, especially with the use of red, green and gold. Drawings of white clouds, clear sky, forests and gardens full of animals and birds, rivers, mountains were painted according to the natural perspective of Alwar.

Writer – Jai Singh Neeraj

The Gospel of Love "Mirabai"

July 3, 2013, 3:03 am

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The wild tale of pathos shall ever remain writ large on the Temple of Love. She lived on tears and she slept on tears: this shall be the language of love in which Mira will go down to posterity. This child of the Lord, nursed in the best of worldly circumstances, feeling disgusted with the obstructions placed on her meeting freely her Divine Beloved, directed her course to those very regions where His kingdom lay, where the mad ravings of the world could not reach her and where the darts of Satan fell scotched like so many pieces of feather. She had started in search of a place where she could lie undisturbed in the thoughts of her Beloved. She was a child that did not look on Him with the dwarfed vision of the world's artist. While freedom was her creed and liberty her watchword, the slaves of forms, formalities and dogmas could not understand her. Her bondage lay in her love for her Beloved, and the subtle chains of love that she put on herself were not visible to many eyes. She started on her way to Brindaban. Her journey over, she found herself ushered into the region of love, affection and beauty, where she could with freedom continue her search for the Beloved.

At Brindaban this messenger from the Lord preached the cult of Bhakti. Beautiful are the dramas she has enacted on this world's stage; lovely are the paintings she has painted on the canvas of life, and charming is the music of the poems she has given to posterity, steeped in mystic lore and perfect in their rhythm and symphony. The music of her songs thrills the heart. It is in concord with the soul. Peace dawns as if by the help of some miraculous power. To the dying and the broken heart they apply the balsam of life and give unction to the soul.

In the ruthless sea of life there are many whirlpools, through which these devotees have steered clear, unscathed, and pointed the Way. But it is not a lesson that can be learnt by rote. It is the fortunate ones alone that are afforded the opportunity to learn. By her life Mira showed there is no reason for an aspirant to get disheartened when she, born in a noble and conservative family, could row her boat safely through the troubled waters and conventions of the world, unchilled and unruffled by adverse winds, regardless of the sarcasms of the world, and in the teeth of mighty persecutions. Her path was the simplest and yet the most difficult, which can be followed without going to the forests or practising penances. It can be acquired in a moment, for it comes as a gift and none can claim it as of right. An aspirant has only to find out one who knows the mystery, one who is dear to the Lord; for, he is the best interceder who can speak for us to Him. It was this search for the Master (Guru) that made her start on her errand and she was fortunate when she found her Teacher and through him the Way Home. But, before she met Raidasa, she had to undergo painful ordeals, both external and internal, in her noble cause love.

Who understands what love is? It is inexplicable. It can be described only by those who have had an experience of it themselves. Its signs are various and varied. It is known by its effects. A blank face and a vacant eye may be an index of the burning heart within. The attributes of Love are the same everywhere. It is a perilous position in which the lover places himself, but one which he will not willingly give up at any cost. It is a grief in which one feels pleasure. When he recites the tale of separation, it is with a view to consoling himself. Although the sword of Maya hangs overhead, yet he is unhurt. And where is sleep in love! Sleep is a condition of the tired mind. None knows when the Beloved might arrive. The vigil is long continued and the effort sustained. The eyes know no fatigue. The lover looks a maniac, the result of continued wakefulness and waiting.

Such is the state of the poor troubled soul at every moment. None likes to hear even the tale of these people. Nobody has time to listen to their effusions of emotion, unless he is similarly affected. When the restless soul wanders thus, troubled by the love current, and knows no rest, the Lord Himself comes to them, listens to their tale, rubs off their tears and clasps them to His bosom. But the panting and thirst should come first, and then alone the divine support will follow. When no peace comes, the lover wanders weary and thirsty. His condition is then like that of a fish out of water.

A victim of the shafts of love, Mira, hungry and thirsty passed days and nights in silence, waiting and crying for the Beloved.

Here is the secret of all religions. This is the only secret path through which one can approach Him. It is not outward show nor the following of conventional rules that can bring about this condition. The path is through love. Every moment of separation is a pang of death to the lovers. The only words that come to their lips are "Lord, I am Thine and Thou art mine." Their lives are differently led. The decorum of society does not bind them. They live away from all forms and shows. The paraphernalia of priestcraft, the ceremonies in the temples and the formal prayers in the churches do not appeal to them. To all appearances they do not sit in prayers, yet not a moment passes when they are not praying to their Lord.

The condition of the devotees is the same at all times and in all climes. The agonies of the soul know no subsiding. Days and nights pass in torture. Sleep leaves the eyes and no craving is left for anything. Love for God is something different from that for human beings. The lover's passion is like thirst in its intensity. It is unique in its variety. Day and night, the flame of love burns in the hearts of the fortunate few. It smoulders in the adepts, but the spark never dies out. It seems to gain energy from within. The solace comes in the flow of tears, and the creeper of love is nourished by the eyes. This is how the thirst is quenched. Their life is a queer paradox. They are supreme artists and very bad caricaturists. They paint things in their nudity. They belong to the Children's School of Art, all innocence and purity. They lose heart at the least obstruction. At the minutest apprehension of the removal of divine touch they run to the Lord and say, "Father, why hast Thou forsaken me?" They alone realize the value of the ethereal touch. They do not live. They linger in the world. They lead a life of supreme indifference. The knowledge of the world is not their creed and there is no fear in throwing off the shackles of forms and ceremonies. There is a rank carelessness about their actions. This is no immodesty in them, but complete surrender to the Lord. They know of only one union that with the Lord. It is sacrilegious for them to enthrone in their heart anyone else than Giradhara, or even to think of others. Such being the devotion, they meet the Beloved with open arms. The ties of flesh stand broken. So it was with Mira. 

With the Lord alone she recognized a relationship and in Him alone she found a friend. When she saw the Lord, she cast down her looks in modesty, in humble submission, and realized how long she had strayed away from Him. Her suppressed feelings gushed forth to do homage to Him. She fell at His feet, but He raised her to His bosom. She felt peace in the arms of her Lord. With the light of fidelity and singleness of purpose clear from her eyes, she started singing to Him.

This is how Mira lived. All her attention was directed to pleasing her Lord. She lived in love. This everlasting spring of love gushes forth in her after years of silent waiting and devotion for the Lord. It therefore knew no drying up. Ceaselessly it gushed out. This was renunciation, the absolute denial of everything. No place was left for an alien thought in the mind. The only craving was never to part from Him; and how sweetly she cherished the new treasure, is apparent from what she says on the subject.

What else could Mira's eyes see but the Lord? She gave herself up completely to Him. This was renunciation, the abandonment of all activities and desires. This is the only channel by which men can reach Him. Renunciation is the necessary outcome of love, and love does not consist in bargaining and bartering. It does not ask for any gift or comfort in lieu thereof.

From the time the devotee sells himself to the Lord, he ceases to have anything to do with himself. All his property, wealth and pride, show and power, which he foolishly thought his, he offers to the Lord. He gives up all he has, and, after all, what are these possessions worth, except Love! He goes to the temple, and through the veil, seeing rays of glory shooting forth say, "Father, I have come to Thee, helpless and infirm, but with hopes fixed in Thee. In utter humility I lay myself before Thee. Do whatever Thou wishest." Volition is dead in me. I have ceased to be my old self. Nothing is mine. Everything belongs to Thee. I come, stand and knock at Thy door. I ask for alms. Turn away this beggar if Thou so desire: bestow on him Thy blessings if Thou so choose. Kick me if that is Thy wish. I am a sinner and have not the strength left in me to repent. Master, I beseech Thee: while the shadows lengthen and the hour comes to die, take me out of the swamps of the dirt of this world. I have nothing with which to purchase this boon. The love that I have is not the arrogant love of the world, the result of pride. It is not that which has caused so many of Thy fair children to stray away from the right path and from Thee. It is not the love for the flesh and blood, the love for the beautiful eyes or the pretty face. It is the love which is the outcome of humility. When all my companions, wealth, power and fame forsook me, and their betrayal stood personified before me, I sought the protection of Thy feet; and, in the silence of night, when everybody slept, I tossed restlessly on my bed, drenching it with tears, crying in all bitterness and asking within myself, Is this love?

"And this last hope has kept life enlivened. My hope has been in the distant meeting as in solitude I lay musing in divine thoughts. In that pensive mood Your Grace has been my only hope. This has been the only softening element, mellowed by the fragrant memories of the passing years, when not a tear of anger has been shed at Thy seeming indifference, not a syllable has been uttered in complaint, not a gesture of revolt displayed. The hope of the distant meeting has given me as much food as the separation itself. The painful watching of the stars in the sky and the restless tossing on the bed have for their end the gleam of the glorious future. The prop has been the divine embrace. I have tried to suppress the feelings, but the body has betrayed me. 'The eyes have told the tale in the language of tears. They have betrayed the path I was following in silence and in that I have found myself helpless. I can boast of no wealth or power or strength. I have no offering to make, yet I have started to have You. When I saw You, I said I wanted to purchase You. But for what price? I gave myself up to You body and soul. What was this giving and what was this article purchased, few will know. Suffice it to say, You sold Yourself to me and I purchased You. It was a bargain. I became Yourself and You were idolized in me a mighty comedy and a majestic melting away into Infinity."

Mira lost herself in the Lord as the colour loses itself in the water.

Writer – Bankey Behari

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Introduction to Status of Women

July 4, 2013, 4:50 am

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The status of women also in early Hindu society was an enviable one. Women so inclined could avail of the highest learning and there were many seers and philosophers like Maitreyi, Gargi, Vishavara, Ghosha and Apala. Adi Shankara, in a theological debate with Mandanamishra, appointed as judge the latter's wife Sarasavani, in view of her superior erudition and spiritual attainments. Warrior queens like Kaikeyi helped their husbands on the battlefield.

In princely families, the custom of swayamvara or selection of the groom by the princess garlanding the one of her choice amongst all the princes present, was the accepted norm. Inter-marriages were common and women often chose their own husbands. Shakuntala, the daughter of a Brahmin sage, chose Dushyanta, a Kshatriya prince, and married him. Santanu, a Kshatriya king, married Satyavati, a fisher-woman, who was crowned queen. Even after her husband's death she was revered as the Queen Mother, and decided many matters of state and problems of family successions.

Polygamy existed in some societies but mostly amongst princes who contracted several marriages with daughters of neighbouring rulers for political reasons. Polyandry was also practised in some areas. The classic example is Draupadi, who married the five Pandava brothers.

Girls were normally not married till they were in their late teens, sometimes even later. Hindu society as established by the Indo-Aryans was patriarchal, but many matriarchal societies of the Dravidian and the pre-Dravidian south continued to exist until quite late in history even after the adoption of Vedic Hinduism. (Today only Kerala in the south is matriarchal though even here changes are creeping in.)

The upper castes even earlier had tried to prevent (though unsuccessfully) inter-caste marriages as also the upward movement of the lower castes. Towards this end the Brahmins, for example, tried to make knowledge of the scriptures their monopoly and the rituals more and more elaborate so that they alone could interpret them. The Kshatriyas similarly tried to make rulership their birth-right and the Vaishyas attempted to become the only custodians of the wealth of the land.

However, it was only with the foreign invasions of the 11th century A.D. and later, starting with the raids of Mahmud of Ghazni and the Goris, that the caste system became rigid.

Unlike the Moghul rulers of a later period who were more tolerant in their treatment of the local people, the earlier invaders looted, plundered and destroyed temples, and marauding soldiers abducted young girls and women. As life, property and the chastity of women were of little value to the invaders, each community built a fortress of social norms around itself to protect its women. Many later-day social evils of the Hindus such as the rigid caste system, guarding the sanctum sanctorum in temples from entry except by the few (to prevent looting and plunder), child marriages (before a girl could be of an age attractive enough to be abducted), the shaving of widows' heads (to make them unattractive to the foreign soldier), the widespread practice of Sati (the burning of a widow with her dead husband), became the norms during this unsettled period of Indian history.

Hindu women lost their independence and became objects requiring male protection. In the process they also lost the opportunities they had earlier of acquiring knowledge and learning.

Hindu Reform

With the coming of British rule in India and the introduction of Western thought, there arose in India a new upsurge of intellectual searching and a re-evaluation of our ancient past. Hindu thinkers reassessed their weaknesses and traced them to the evils of the rigid caste system and to the social evils that had befallen women and the so-called untouchable castes. Starting from the early 19th century, several Indian reformers sprang up all over India and spread their message for purifying Hinduism of its excessive rites, rituals and orthodoxy and for abolishing the inequalities heaped on women in the name of the religion. To mention a few whose work led to reforms on a national scale, the earliest was Raja Rammohan Roy of Bengal. He preached against rituals and worked for the abolition of Sati. Although Sati means pure and chaste, the word had (in the last few centuries) been used to connote the immolation of a widow with her husband.

Another illustrious son of Bengal, lshwar Chandra Vidyasagar popularised Sanskrit teaching amongst all castes and fought for widow remarriage.

The Prarthana Samaj was set up in Bombay for fighting the caste

system and its great leaders were R. G. Bhandarkar, the famous Sanskrit scholar, and M. G. Ranade.

The greatest of them all, Swami Vivekananda, set up the Ramakrishna Mission, an organisation of service and social reform, and spread the message of true Hinduism throughout India and the Western world. He fought hard against orthodoxy and preached spiritual freedom, fearlessness and the universalism of all religions, all of which were basic to Hindu spiritual beliefs.

Swami Dayanand Saraswati, a Gujarati Brahmin, fought against Hindu priesthood and wanted Hinduism to go back to its Vedic glory. He founded the Arya Samaj in 1875, a movement which was reformist, and attempted to unify the Hindus under the umbrella of Vedic Hinduism, shorn of later-day superstitions.

Annie Besant, Irish by birth, came to India in 1895 as a theosophist and worked for Hindu religious revival. Her admiration for Hindu thought gave great self-respect to Hindus at a time when they were looked down upon by their British rulers. She set up the Central Hindu College at Banaras which later became the nucleus of the Banaras Hindu University.

Mahatma Gandhi, the father of Independent India, made women take part in the freedom movement, and by this great act of vision, got rid of many of the social inequalities heaped on women. He also made the abolition of untouchability an integral part of the freedom movement. By not permitting untouchable Hindus in places of worship, Hindu society had been weakened, as the scriptures reiterated the equality of all men in the eyes of God. Many aspects of Gandhiji's national movement simultaneously also worked towards Hindu religious reform.

A great religious reformer who worked against untouchability was Narayana Guru of Kerala who not only fought against casteism but was also responsible for the high level of education and religious instruction of the lowest castes in that region.

Dr. C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar had fought all his life against orthodoxy and untouchability. In 1936, when he was Dewan of Travancore, the Maharaja's proclamation opened the temples of the state to all Hindus. For the first time in India, untouchables were allowed to enter places of worship. Mahatma Gandhi called this step 'the glory of a miracle,' especially as some of the worst aspects of casteism were practised in Kerala. Even Swami Vivekananda had bitterly spoken earlier of the "don't touchism" that prevailed there in the name of religion. From then on, several temples in other parts of India followed suit.

Each region in India threw up religious reformers, poets and saints, all of whom taught that social and religious reform had to go hand in hand. As a result, in 1950, Independent India laid down in the Constitution that untouchability could not be practised in any form. Also, the Constitution guaranteed full equality to all men and women. The Hindu Succession Act of 1956 made daughters equal heirs with sons.

Old habits however die hard and laws by themselves are not enough. The hearts of the people must change which will only happen when the upper castes understand the origin of the caste system, the fact of the fluidity of castes in ancient times, the inter-mixing of castes within each one of us, and the reasons for the later-day rigidity of the caste system.

Writer – Shakunthala Jagannathan

Mughal Emperor Sixteenth to Eighteenth Century A.D.

July 5, 2013, 3:58 am

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To understand this school in its proper perspective, the traditions in which it has its roots should be considered. The source of Mughal painting was Persian. The art of Persia was greatly influenced by Mongolian art. The art of Central Asia is almost reflected in pre-Timurid and Timurid art. It is this blend of the art of Chinese Turkistan and Persia that travelled to India and in ideal surroundings softened and mellowed, acquired the best elements of the indigenous traditions in the country and flowered into a great and noble art, which has its own distinctive character not only as a great court art but also as a distinct development closely associated with the land where it blossomed.

Mughal painting is distinctive but Indian. It has the flavour of the Persian but the inborn charm of Indian tradition. Babar, the fifth descendant from Timur, was aware of the great and remarkable ability of Bihzad, the famous artist of his time; but engaged as he was in the establishment of his kingdom, having proved unsuccessful in his attempt at securing Kandahar, the old capital of his ancestors, and turning his eyes from Kabul to India to secure at least an eastern expansion from his little rocky kingdom, he could not devote that attention to art which his son Humayun could. That painting flourished in his time is clearly seen from the Alwar manuscript of the Persian version of his Memoirs where the illustrations show the style of painting during his day.

Humayun's misfortunes drove him to Persia as an exile and Sher Shah's triumph saw Humayun looking for refuge with Shah Tahmasp of Persia. This was indeed a godsend for the artistic inclination of Humayun, as the Shah was a great patron of art, and among his court painters were Bihzad, Mirak and others.

Akbar, who was very young when he succeeded his father, was an illiterate but possessed a rare flair for appreciation of learning and art, and probably was more alert with his ears and eyes than any scholar or connoisseur of his time. He had an enormous passion for learning and built up a marvellous library of Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit books. He had the famous books from these languages translated into others and learnt by listening more than by studies. Having been himself an artist in his youth, Akbar zealously patronised art and held the view that the artist who drew with accuracy could only realise the superiority of the Creator who could even infuse life into the objects that the artist could just draw so faithfully. Akbar was equally at home in all the fine arts, and painting flourished at his court. The Akbar Nama, the Razm Nona and other works were profusely illustrated at his command. The Persian artists who flocked to his court taught the new technique to the Indian artists and themselves benefited by absorbing the best elements of indigenous traditions, with the result that a rare blend of a wonderful new school came into existence. The names of Manohar, Farukchela, Basawan and Madhu, to mention a few, were famous during Akbar's days.

The story of Mughal painting in India may be said to have begun with Khwaja Abdus Samad of Shiraz who was patronised by Humayun and continued in the time of Akbar. Daswant, the poor son of a palanquin-bearer whom the emperor Akbar discovered and apprenticed to Abdus Samad, is a symbol of other Hindu artistswho practised the Persian way and created a new efflorescence of art. Another great name at Akbar's court amongst the Hindu masters is Basawan. The practice of signing pictures in this period of art history gives us names of artists at Akbar's court of which a large number is given in the Ain-e-Akbari like Mukund, Madhu, Khemkaran, Harbans, Kesavlal and others. The illustrated Babar Nama, Akbar Nama, Hamza Nama, Razm Nama and other beautifully illustrated manuscripts of the period are a great artistic achievement. Still in this period, the Persian treatment of the background and the landscape is obvious, though slowly this influence, diminishes in the successive periods. The building of Fatehpur Sikri, the emperor's chase of wild animals and, particularly, the birth of his second son Murad at Fatehpur Sikri are splendid illustrations in which the Akbar Nama abounds.

Jehangir, who had an intelligent wife to manage state-craft, was left with sufficient leisure to enjoy wine and appreciate art. Probably this was the greatest period of the renaissance of Mughal art. He was a great patron and maintained a bevy of painters at his court. In his Memoirs he prides himself on his connoisseurship, how he could discriminate the work of one artist from that of another and single out the painting of any individual artist even to the point of distinguishing any touches added by a subsequent painter on an original by another. The emperor delighted in beautiful portraits of his and had groups painted of himself, his lovely queen and his family. Some of the most beautiful animal and flower patterns were drawn and painted during his day. Portraiture was so developed that there was a great element of realism during Jehangir's reign. Mansur and Bishandas amongst several others ranked as very famous painters of his day. Sir Thomas Roe has left anecdotes throwing light on the emperor's keen enthusiasm in portrait-painting. It is no wonder that the admirable portraits of this period evoked the appreciation of the great British painter, Sir Joshua Reynolds.

Jehangir's son Shah Jahan was, though a connoisseur, more a builder of great monuments and a pattern of architecture. Painting flourished, no doubt, during his day, but its heyday was reached during the time of his father. The puritan Aurangzeb, who imprisoned his father Shah Jahan and came to the throne, could not probably provide encouragement to the art that he considered against the tenets of his religion, and the disappointed artists of the Mughal court had slowly to find a better atmosphere for survival elsewhere. Thus from this time onwards not only music was buried deep but art also was driven away to different homes and the provincial schools in Amritsar, Lahore, Lucknow, Oudh, Murshidabad, Golconda, and other places absorbed the painters of the Moghal court who were driven to seek a home elsewhere.

Mughal art, which started as an art of illustration and excelled in portraiture in the succeeding period, which was the best, became at last a rather weak expression of life around in pictorial terms. Starting with a strong Persian bias, it slowly assimilated a blend of the indigenous with an efflorescence in which the foreign flavour was finally eliminated almost completely.

No description of Mughal painting would be complete without a reference to the delicate treatment of birds, animals and plants which rank among some of the greatest masterpieces of this period.

Writer – C.Sivaramamurti

Kangra Paintings

July 6, 2013, 3:10 am

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THE RADIANT BEAUTY

Bihar' has described female beauty in many of his verses. But none excels the dohei given below, which the Kangra artist has illustrated in this painting. In the music of its words, compactness and vivid imagery, it stands out as a pearl of unique beauty in the necklace of seven hundred presented by him to posterity.

Tataki dhoi dhovati, chatakill mukha joti; Lasati rasoi kain bagara, jagara magara duti hoti! Clad in a newly-washed garment, the Nayika is cooking; The kitchen is shining with the radiance of her lovely face.

Surrounded by utensils, a pile of brinjals stored against the wall, the lovely one is cooking. Her jet black tresses reach her waist. Her face is serene and beautiful. Her simple white dress enhances her beauty. In this painting the Hindu ideal of female beauty is portrayed in a lyrical manner. One is reminded of the following lines by Wordsworth.

"She was a phantom of delight

When first she gleamed upon my sight."

In the background, Krishna, the cow-herd, is shown sitting under a tree, with cows resting in the foreground. The female messenger is describing to him the beauty of Rildha as she is cooking in the kitchen.

THE GAME OF HIDE-AND-SEEK

The cowherd boys and girls are playing the game of hide-and-seek, on the outskirts of the village. Radha has hidden herself in a clump of bushes. Krishna discovers her, and makes use of the opportunity for love-making.

Dori chora mihichani, khelu na kheli aghdta Durata hiyain laptal kai, chhuvata hiyain laptata.

Playing the game of hide-and-seek, the two are not satisfied with its pleasures. When one seeks the other, they cling to each other in a warm embrace.

RESTLESSNESS OF LOVE

The sakhis are watching the restless RAdha from a porch in the courtyard. Radha stares at Krishna from the entrance door of her house. She is fascinated by the sight of Krishna through the trellis. Next she is shown gazing at him from the second floor. In the background, are green hillocks, dotted with mangoes and box-like houses reminiscent of Alampur. The painting illustrates the following verses of Bihari.

Jhataki chadhati utarati ata, nainku na thakati deha Bhai rahati nata kau batA, ataki nagara neha. Nai lagani kula ki sakucha, bikalabhai akulai; Duhun ora ainchi phirati phiraki laun dinu jai. Ita tam n uta uta tam n itain, chhinu na kahun thaharAti; Jaka na parati chakari bhai, phiri avati phiri jati.

Sakhi to another sakhi:

Entangled in love, the Niiyilca is behaving like an acrobat, Running up and down from the attic of her house, she does not feel tired. On one side is the pull of her newly born love, On the other is the honour of the family. Stretched between the two she feels severely afflicted, And spends her day rotating like a pulley. She moves from one place to another, and does not tarry even:for a moment. She has no peace of mind and like a revolving yo-yo she is constantly in a whirl.

STAY WITH ME, MY LOVE!

The cool and rainy month of Seivan follows the hot month of June arid is a favourite of lovers in India. It is the month when the ocean of passion in woman is at high tide. The sky is covered with:dark clouds, against which skeins of white cranes appear like a garland on the-jneck of dark Krishna. The lover is ready to go out on a journey, and the lady is sorely afflicted. With the devotion and loving entreaty of a gentle Hindu wife she implores him to stay with her and not leave her alone in the delightful month of Schan. When he does not agree, she thus expresses her resentment.

Barna bhama Kãmini, kahi bolau pranesa; Pyari kahata khisyata nahin, pavasa chalata videsa. 

"Don't call me your beloved ; call me instead a shrew. Going away to a far-off land in the month of rains, You should feel ashamed at calling me sweet-heart.

LOVE LONGINGS

How the lovely N1yika conveyed her love longings to the Nayaka in the crowded home, where she is watched by her servants and female companions, is illustrated in this painting.

Chitai lalachauhain chakhanu, dun i ghtinghata pata mAnha; Chhala saun chhali chhubdi kai, chhinaku chhabili chhanha.

The Nayaka thus narrates the incident to sakizi:

'Having first looked at me with greedy eyes, Hidden behind the hem of her veil, And then craftily touching her shadow for a moment with mine, The graceful maiden now walks away.'

Love is often expressed by sings and symbols. A woman, overpowered with love expresses her desire by casting side-long glances, scratching the ears, or touching her ornaments. The indications of love in a well-bred woman, according to the Ndlyagdstra, are: 'She looks continuously with blooming eyes, conceals her smile, speaks slowly with a down-cast face, gives reply with a smile, and has throbbing lips.' The touching of shadows is a symbol of union, and conveys the desire of the Nayika to the lover.

LADY IN SEARCH OF THE LOVER ON A DARK NIGHT

The lady who goes out on a dark night to meet her lover, Krishna, is called Krishnabhisarika. To conceal herself she wears a blue garment. Her companion urges her on, saying, "The cowherds have left the platforms in front of their houses, and the streets are empty. The night is dark. This is an opportune time for you, dear Abhisarika, to go out to meet your lover." The painting illustrates the following couplet, in which Bihari describes the beauty of the lady.

Nisi andhiari nilapatu, pahiri chali piya-geha;

Kahau durdi kyon durai, dipa sikha si deha.

Though clad in blue, the dark night cannot hide her as she goes to meet her lover. The flame-like brilliance of her body illumines the night itself.

The empty houses, and the dark sky, powdered by stars, suggest the solitude of the night. In the background, the trees stand like phantoms. The finely chiselled face of the Nayika, framed in a blue wrap, the sensuous curves of her body, and the grace of her delicate fingers represent the Kangra female type at its best. The lustre of the Nayika's body shines forth in bright contrast with her blue sari. In Panjabi folk-songs also, the beauty of a woman is often compared to a flame.

QUEST FOR THE LOVER IN MOONLIGHT

The lady who goes out to meet her lover in a moonlit night is called the sukabhisarika. She dresses in white to conceal her presence. This painting is an illustration of the following doha of Bihari in which he describes the beauty of the lady, who goes out on a bright moonlit night to meet her lover, followed by her maid.

Juvati jonha main mili gal, nainka na hoti lakhai

Saurdhe kain dorain lagi, all chali sang

'The young maiden was so much like moonlight that walking under the shining moon she became invisible.

Her companion was only able to follow her guided by the fragrance of her limbs.'

One is reminded of the description of Radha, as S'uktifbhisarika, by Guru Govind Singh in Dasam Granth. `Radha went out in the moonlight, in the light of the white soft moon, wearing a white robe, to meet her Lord. She thus concealed herself in white, and roamed as the light itself in search of Him.' Surely Radha is the human soul in search of the Infinite, the Cosmic Reality.

Writer – M.S Randhawa

Introduction to Asavari Ragini

July 8, 2013, 5:23 am

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Asavari Ragini is a somber melody of the early morning, generally considered to be a wife of Sri Raga. The name is taken from that of the Savaras, an ancient jungle tribe renowned for its snake-charming skills and from whose fluted tunes the ragini is said to derive. The literary descriptions of Asavari Ragini exhibit considerable variance; those corresponding most closely to the Rajasthani-tradition paintings are found in the early seventeenth-century Sangitadarpana of Damodara Misra and a number of other texts paintings of Asavari Ragini display a consistent basic imagery, a woman in the forest communing with cobras, with minor variations She is usually garbed in a leaf skirt, as in the present examples; alternatively she is naked or dressed in aristocratic filter Consistent with the ragini's cultural origin, the heroine displays a ,mastery over the serpents and interacts with them in a number of ways. She can be Shown taming them by hand, through the use of a wind instrument, or by instructing them by hand gestures or the movements of a small stick, usually shaped and brandished like an orchestra conductor's baton. Occasionally, as in painting, male snake-charmers are shown performing their melodic spells. These movements of the stick flute or hands accord with the belief that it is the hypnotic, serpentine movements of Indian snake charmers flutes rather than their actual melodies that mesmerize cobras.

These two illustrations of Asavari Ragini, created slightly more than a century and a half apart, represent an early and a mature stage in the development of the imagery associated with the ragini. Although both depict a leaf-clad heroine accompanied by serpents in a forest, traditionally identified as the snake-infested sandalwood groves of the Malaya mountains in Kerala, there are significant differences between the two representations.

In this painting, a minimally adorned heroine holds one cobra while others slither around her legs, the wooden platform on which she sits, and the tree trunk. The forest is indicated by the two deciduous trees sheltering her as well as by the plantain trees and flora. The subdued browns and greens of the palette, similar to those in the illustration of Vasant Ragini, typify the productions of subimperial Mughal painting workshops.

Curiously, this illustration of Asavari Ragini is identified by a label in the upper border as "the ragini of Dipak Raga, number 36" instead of the wife of Sri Raga, which in the Rajasthani tradition the ragini is normally regarded to be. Iconographically, this work presents a much more detailed and expanded version (or vision) of Asavari Ragini than painting A. The simple heroine has been transformed into the goddess Savari, the Saiva tutelary deity of the Savaras. Her identity and divinity are indicated, respectively, by her blue skin, denoting her tribal origins, and by her golden nimbus and crescent moon, emblematic of Siva and Saiva goddesses. This socioreligious elevation is also suggested by her now copious gold-and-pearl jewelry. place of a simple stick the goddess waves an ascetic's crutch in front of a cobra. She sits enthroned on a hilltop plateau symbolic of the Malaya mountains, a compositional feature much more representative of Asavari Raginis than the humble platform of painting A. The forest is also imbued with greater life and variety. Lush blooming trees, a hallmark of Bundi painting, draw the viewer along the recession toward the mountains in the background. Swans and Brahminy ducks gather around a lotus pond in the foreground, a compositional element equally typical of Bundi painting. A snake-charmer playing a bulbous flute (pritigi) completes the composition. Ragamala paintings were particularly popular in Bundi, both as album folios and palace murals.

Writer – Janice Leoshko

Hoysala Emperor Eleventh to Thirteenth Century A.D.

July 9, 2013, 2:33 am

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With their name derived from an incident narrated about their ancestor Sala, who was called upon by a sage to kill a tiger, 'Poysala' (strike Sala), the Hoysalas were a dynasty of rulers in western Mysore, claiming descent from the Yadavas. Their ancient capital was Dorasamudra, called Dvaravatipura in their inscriptions. The Hoysalas were originally feudatories of the Western Chalukyas.

Vinayaditya was the first important king, whose grand-son Bittideva or Bittiga was a mighty monarch. He made the dynasty independent. Originally a Jain, he was con-verted to Vaishnavism by Ramanuja in the twelfth century A.D. Now styled Vishnuvardhana, the newly-converted king enthusiastically built beautiful temples and embellished them with the finest art of the period under the inspiration of the great religious reformer. The temple at Belur, a gem of Hoysala art, is his creation. A striking portrait of the king, with his learned Jain queen Santala beside him, is found on a carved lithic screen. Though the king changed his faith, he was catholic in outlook and Jainism flourished equally during his time and later. As in the case of the Ikshvaku sovereigns, who were of the Brahmanical faith, with the princesses devoted to Buddha, here was a king, a devout Vaishnavite, with his wife dedicated to the faith of the Tirthankaras. His ministers and generals like Gangaraja and Hulli Dandanayaka were devout followers of the Jain faith.

After Ballala II or Vira Ballala, as he was known, and his sons Narasimha II and Somesvara, the Hoysala kingdom slowly crumbled till it was dealt a death-blow by Alla-ud-din Khilji through his general Malik Kafur.

Examples of architecture and sculpture all over Mysore have revealed a magnificent sculptural wealth of the Hoysalas. No examples of the painter's art were known so far. Though no murals have been noticed in any of the temples, fortunately there are specimens of Hoysala painting preserved in Moodbidri. These are painted palm-leaf manuscripts at this pontifical seat. They compose the com-mentaries of Virasena known as Dhavala and Jayadhavala and Mahadhavala or Mahabandha of the original text of Shatkhandagama.

It is fortunate that these manuscripts, with the palaeography, clearly Hoysala, of the time of Vishnu-vardhana, with paintings in bright colours of great charm, shouled have survived, thanks to the institution at Moodbidri, to give us an idea of the art of the Hoysala painter. It is interesting to compare with the writing in these manuscripts the letters composing the flowery lines in the metal plates from the Belur temple. The sweeping lines composing the letters are characteristic of both. 
 

These paintings should be attributed to the time of Vishnuvardhana and his wife Santala who was so devoted to Jainism. These paintings are in bright colours on unusually large palm-leaves, which are important both for the beauty of the letters composing the text and for the illustrations that accompany it. Two of the leaves with letters rather thickened, with a greater delicacy than in the case of the rest, with a soft tone reducing all effect of contrast in colours, and with the outline drawn in very pleasing pro-portions, appear the earliest among these paintings. This manuscript of Dhavala is dated A.D. 1113. Here is presented the Yakshi Kali of Suparsvanatha who, however, is of fair complexion. The bull, her vehicle, is also present. The flexion of her body and the sinuous lines composing the figures are remarkable. Similarly, the royal devotees on one side, the king, queen and the prince, are drawn and painted with great delicacy. These are towards the end of the leaves. The central paintings in both the leaves are a standing and a seated Tirthankara Mahavira. Though it is very difficult to handle a theme so simple as that of a figure in the nude like the Tirthankara, the painter has made both these creations truly artistic. The lovely seat with a makara-decorated back and rearing lions is matched by the fine chauri-bearers on either side in pleasing proportions and flexions. This painting at once recalls the masterpiece of early Chola workman-ship in the Nagapattinam Buddha with Nagaraja chauri-bearers on either side. It is almost monochrome here, but it has a wonderful effect as a painting with depth brought out with great mastery.

One end of one of the other leaves presents Parsvana tha with snake-hoods over his head seated on a lion-throne with chauri-bearers flanking, and with Dharanendra Yaksha on one side and Padmavati Yakshini on the other. One end of another leaf shows Srutadevi in the centre, flanked by elegant female chauribearers, whose body flexion, coiffure, turn of face and twist of neck and crossing of the legs are all very pleasing. An almost similar and equally effective one is towards another end of a leaf. In the same style but somewhat simple is represented the theme of Bahubali who turned an ascetic and allowed creepers to grow and en-twine around his legs. His sisters flanking him are almost as in the panel at Ellora depicting the same theme.

Yakshi Ambika, the most popular in Jain art, is shown under the mango tree with her two children and a lion. One of the boys rides the lion, while the other is very close to his mother. The theme of devotees adoring Parsvanatha and Suparsvanatha is extremely simple. Such themes, however, as Matanga Yaksha with his vehicle, the elephant, seated with its head proudly lifted up, and the whole picture arranged with an artistic background of trees, interesting for their conventional patterns, are very pleasing. Srutadevi with her peacock or Mahamanasi with her swan and Yaks ha Ajita on a tortoise are all delightful artistic creations of the Hoysala painter's brush. The floriated tail of the bird and the delineation of the contours of the figures reflect great artistic taste and creative talent.

Even the borders in these manuscripts reveal great taste and elegance. Though innumerable floral patterns have been exclusively painted on other leaves, there is no repetition anywhere.

Writer – C. Sivaramamurti

The Doctraine of Sabda

July 11, 2013, 4:15 am

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In the beginning was the soul merged in the Lord and with the Lord. But since then aeons have passed and the soul has left its abode of peace, where it lay wrapped in bliss. The ignorance persisting for ages, and the association with the grosser elements of matter and ego have covered the subtler element to such an extent that the spirit has apparently become benumbed. In the innermost core it is still alive, but the covers that it has put on have made it insensible to the Call. It has lost its sensibilities, and has become insensate to the shafts of love. They cannot pierce the dense layers the soul has put on. But at times it so happens that, when they do pierce, the experience, howsoever shortlived gives a thrill; but this effect is soon masked by the external reactions. If this temporary selflessness is allowed to sustain itself a little longer, real love will spring forth. These temporary flashes are not of much value to a devotee, not very praiseworthy even. They cannot lead the pilgrim Home. The successful termination of the journey presumes sustained effort and consequent joy.

Once this Bhakti is aroused in this frame, it begins to respond to the Eternal; the soul then starts upwards to the real home.

The soul has since its departure from the eternal Home been enjoying itself with the mind and the body Like the proverbial spendthrift, it is sharing with these cheats the boon of its Home. Like an ignorant child, it has fallen into bad company and is every day descending lower and lower in search of new pleasures of a vulgar type, which makes its redemption impossible. But, before the final wreck comes, it makes amends to the Father, and is forgiven. It then begins its career afresh. It only takes time to rise to the old place once more. This often happens when it is reminded in its fallen condition of its glorious past and is assured of the forgiving nature of the Father. The innate goodness is then aroused in the child. Then it realizes that these thieves the body and the mind which were to all appearances its companions, were really enjoying at its cost, as the soul was the only life-giving element. The covers of depravity are removed, it repents and then the Lord appears and makes it conscious of its fallen condition and of His mighty forgiving nature. This realization is bound to come, as the connection of the soul is yet unbroken with the Lord. When such a stage is reached, the Guru makes His appearance. The Guru knows the secrets of the Divine Path, and understands the malady of the aspirant. He ministers to the ailment of his new patient. To the aspirant he describes his fall and points out to him the path, following which he can reach Home. This path is nothing else but the current of divine love that leads the individual towards the Eternal Soul. If this route were not extant, the individual soul would never experience the thrills from the Universal. The soul, when it lay in the Ocean of Divinity, was lying silent, calm and unruffled; but, when it started its journey downward, the loss of energy in the motion resulted in its depletion, and this process of fall produced sound. This sound is technically termed abda in Vedanta and Yoga. At the various stages in its descent the soul adopted the form and the colour of the centre through which it passed. In our world it assumed the form of `Manas' and `Maya'. If now the soul wants to return Home, it has to retrace its path; it has once more to draw together all the energy it had diffused and then to proceed backwards. Just as in the wilderness in this world the traveller is guided by the sound at a distance, so also the soul on its pilgrimage is guided by the Sabda. It is the open sesame of the Divine Home. 

The soul moves on and on in reponse to it. As the sound grows clearer with the soul's advance in its upward march, the speed also increases. Like the snake that gets spell-bound itself when it hears the music of the charmer's flute, the soul drinks deep of the eternal music that issues forth from itself. This music of the soul is also called by the Yogis as Anahata and by the St-ills as Saut-i-sarmadi, the music without a beginning and an end, which never stops. When the music of this world appeals to one so much, one can easily imagine what must be the condition of the soul when it hears this divine music all the time. This music the soul has brought with itself. It sustains it. It is under its influence that the devotee goes into trances. It is the password to reach Home. Mira called this Sabda NAMA'. Without Nama', she incessantly repeated, you cannot reach Him. It is, in fact, the realization by man of his divinity. But this, she repeated, could be possible only through the help of the Teacher. And the Teacher will come only when the aspirant lies ill, crying for the beatific vision. He gives the gift of NAMA', and the path becomes accessible to the recipient.

The love for the Gum must be unadulterated, unselfish and spontaneous. The Guru is he who will open the gate that guards the entrance to the Divine Throne. There must be implicit faith in him. Divided affection is abhorred by him. An honest heart wins him over. How tenderly Mira loved her Guru and with what tenacity, is depicted by her in her beautiful lines, full of pathos and music and brimming with genuine feelings of affection and respect for the Teacher.

How many are those honest people that have the stern faith and hope in the Teacher? It is very nice to sit philosophizing that the world is a dream. But these are only pious thoughts. The poet is more honest (I say honest, not correct) when he says: 'Life is real' and 'not a dream'. Because he says what he sees But the Teacher will open the devotee's eyes and show him the hypocrisy of the world and its transient nature. It will be only then that in disgust he will turn his back from the world and realize that is was a dream. This hollowness will be shown to him as a stern reality as God was shown to Vivekananda by his Teacher, Swami Ramakrsna Paramahathsa, as a being that 'stood face to face with him and conversed with him.' But one who for ages has been enjoying the wine administered by the body and the mind can seldom get out of the stereotyped rut to breathe the pure fresh air.

The soul in this world has put on covers with which it enjoys when it dives deep into the quagmire of sensuality. It is difficult for it to shake them off. It is only after removing these covers of dirt that it can follow the path of love, so difficult and narrow many are prepared to follow this path with equilibrium and resolve maintained throughout. Although every-one is ready with his gospel and is up to deliver a sermon on the virtues of a devotee's life and the glories of the Path yet very few find the Teacher, still less obtain his favours. On whomsoever he showers his blessings, he takes him in his company, reveals to him the secrets of the Path and leads him Home. That is the beginning of real LOVE, the love that is synonymous with the Lord. The eye sees, with its senses intact, 'camels pass through the eye of the needle' and the 'seas drown in the boat.

To meet the Lord is easy, to discover His lover is difficult.' This is not a truism, but a truth. When the soul proceeds with implicit faith in the Teacher, this automatically happens when the Teacher shows to the devotee his real form, then it reaches Home and merges itself in divinity. Everything it sees there is its own. It dances in ecstasy when it sees its Lord. On one side stands the Teacher and on the other it witnesses the Lord in full effulgence. In a dilemma it finds itself.

And it falls on the feet of its Teacher, unable to understand its own action and decision. The Lord smiles and clasps the soul to His bosom. It feels the warmth of the embrace. It revives from its slumber and tastes of the eternal life. This is life immortal which it now gets. The way is through the Teacher, who is to impart the knowledge of the abda. There is no other way in this Kali age. Prepare for His arrival; for, sooner or later, He is bound to come. You are to be equipped, not with the riches and the wealth of the world, but with a poor man's heart, a heart that will burst forth into tears of joy at His name and in which the waves of love are constantly rising, leaving no space for any other love besides that for the Holy One.

The inception of love is the result of the ascent of the accumulated energy upwards. The way upwards is through the Guru.

Mira was imbued with similar feelings. She cried, "Take the torch of `Guru-Thana' and steer clear through the abysmal darkness of the world." What she said will be understood only by those who have passed through the path traversed by that great devotee. The fidelity required in this domain is too taxing, nay, boring at times, for the soul that has started suddenly and with great vigour at the very outset. It staggers at the first shock it receives, as it is yet raw in the sense of lacking in the support of the Guru. But, when the Guru is met, the watchword of the soul is "Always with the Guru." This is the sign of emancipation, and, sooner or later, every soul must crave for the divine support. Then redemption is not far off. Else, like the many, it also finds a place in some abyss. The onlookers have watched with careless eyes the wrecking of many boats, but they have never cared to diagnose the cause. The phantom of death, as the dear ones have been carried on the bier, has haunted them only for a moment. The realization has been short-lived. The attention is carried again to the wrangles of the world, and once again the soul is drowned in the sea of pain and pleasure, steeped in the desire of the world, in its joys and in its sorrows. The momentary flash does cross at least once everybody's life, and many a pious resolution is then arrived at, and solemn promise made thenceforth to follow a course that may lead Home. But their unstable position soon wrecks them on the rocks of worldliness. When once caught in its meshes, no amount of frowning or fawning will avail them. But even then, if he were to realize the greatness of the soul and follow its dictates to the last, there is every chance of redemption. The Teacher will give the devotee the strength to fight the blandishments and snares of Maya and Kala and ultimately tow his boat unperturbed through the gushing current. Few realize the boon the Teacher confers although everybody is familiar with the prevailing practice in big households. The entry there is regulated by permits. It is therefore not a matter for surprise that the divine preserves should be protected by these saints, who act as the repositories of divine secrets, mysteries and knowledge. If the Cela is ready, he whispers the password, and with its help the aspirant reaches the unexplored region.

The Guru tells how the descent began and the agonies of the soul commenced. He knows it, as he has the experience of that region. When the ingress into the region of darkness has been through doors of pain, the way back must surely likewise be decked with wreaths of tears, not burning tears this time, but the soothing draughts that quench the thirst of the soul. Seeing the wilderness in front and the uncertainty in the result of the espoused cause, the tiro does not grip the opportunity offered to him, but allows himself to be washed with the downward current into the region of abysmal darkness. The proverbial laziness in man, coupled with his love for pleasure does not permit him to steer through and beyond the rushes of Maya. He is afraid of being drowned and desires to come out unbruised. Thus, when a beginner finds after some time that the path is too difficult for him, he abandons it immediately. Thereupon the sparks of renunciation convert themselves into strong chains of worldliness, thus preparing the way to Hell. The solitary stars shine in the firmament of time; while some have persevered and others have sneered, the devotees have worn expectant looks. They have sat helpless and penitent, awaiting the motherly touch to come and take them up. And the mother has come. Their hopes have not been frustrated. The Teachers have come and opened the portals for them. There drinks the soul the nectar of bliss, unable to find words in which to express gratitude to the Teacher. In no words can it pay tribute to him, the repository of the GREAT MYSTERY, who unlocks the mysteries that lie unfathomed in the recesses of the heart.

Writer – Bankey Behari

Chola Emperor Ninth to Thirteenth Century A.D.

July 19, 2013, 4:17 am

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In the ninth century, the Cholas regained power, when Vijayalaya established himself in the area round about Tanjavur. Aditya and Parantaka, the son and grandson of Vijayalaya, were great temple-builders. Parantaka was specially devoted to Siva at Chidambaram and covered the temple with gold. The widowed queen of the pious king, Gandaraditya, son of Parantaka, is one of the most important queens in Chola history for the generous tradition of building and endowing temples. The most imposing monu-ment of the Chola period is the Rajarajesvara temple at Tanjavur, also known as the Brihadisvara temple. Rajaraja was undoubtedly the greatest ruler in the Chola line, great in military triumph, in organisation of the empire, patron-age of art and literature, and in religious tolerance. In the twenty-fifth year of his reign, a great and magnificent temple of Siva, named after the king, Rajarajesvaramudayar, was completed. Rajaraja was so intensely devoted to Siva that he was known by the epithet Sivapadasekhara. His taste for art is reflected in the title Nit yavinoda. Rajaraja's glory was partially eclipsed by that of his greater son Rajendra, who was a remarkable military genius. Rajendra, on his return from a successful campaign in the Gangetic area, created a huge tank, symbolic of a liquid pillar of victory, in his own new capital, Gangaikondacholapuram, and a gigantic temple, resembling the Brihadisvara at Tanjavur, to celebrate his triumph and the bringing home of the Ganges water as the only tribute he sought from the vanquished sovereigns of the North.

Kulottunga II, the son of Vikramachola, made elaborate additions to the Chidambaram temple. This interest was sustained in the reign of his son Rajaraja H whose biruda, Rajagambhira, is recorded in the lovely rnandapa of the temple at Darasuram, built during his time. Kulottunga III was the last of the great Chola emperors to add to the Chola edifices, not only by building temples like the Kampaharesvara at Tribhuvanam, but also by renovations and additions as at Kanchi, Madurai, Chidambaram, Tiruvarur, Tiruvidaimarudur and Darasuram.

There are fragments of very early Chola paintings at Narthamalai, Malayadipatti and other places. However, it is the Brihadisvara temple at Tanjavur that is a real great treasure-house of the art of the early Chola painter. The contemporary classics describe the glory of the paintings in the South by referring to chit ramandapas, chitrasalas, oviyanilayams in temples and palaces. The Paripadal men-tions the paintings on temple walls in the early Chola capital, Kaveripumpattinam. The actual remains of this period are, however, yet to be discovered. In the Vijayalayacholisvaram temple on the hill at Narthamalai, there are traces of paintings on the walls showing the dancing figure of Kali and Gandharvas on the ceiling of the antechamber.

S.K. Govindaswami's discovery of paintings in the dark circumambulatory passage around the central shrine in the Brihadisvara temple at Tanjavur revealed a new phase of South Indian painting, a regular picture gallery of early Chola art. There are two layers, one of the Nayak period on top, which, wherever it has fallen, has revealed an earlier Chola one below, richly laden with painting.

The entire wall and the ceiling were originally deco-rated with exquisite paintings of the time of Rajaraja, but later renovation and additions made during the centuries account for additional layers that have covered up the earlier one. These Chola paintings that form an important link in the series help a better study of the earlier Pallava phase and the later Vijayanagara. The Chola paintings so far exposed are mainly on the western and northern walls. On the western side, the entire wall space consists of a huge panel with Siva as Yoga-Dakshinamurti, seated on a tiger-skin in a yogic pose, with the yogapatta or paryankabandha across his waist and right knee, calmly watching the dance of two apsaras. A dwarf gana and Vishnu play the drum and keep time, while other celestials in a row sound the drum, the hand drum and the cymbals, as they fly in the air, to approach this grand spectacle, which is witnessed by a few principal figures seated in the foreground. Saint Sundara and Cheraman are shown below hurrying thither on a horse and an elephant, respectively. A little away is a typical early Chola temple enshrining Nataraja with princely devotees seated in its vicinity.

Lower down is the narration of the story of Sundara, how Siva came in the guise of an old man, with a document, to prove his right and claim the beautiful bridegroom to take him away on the very day of his marriage to his abode at Tiruvennainallur. Below this is the scene of marriage festivity. On the wall beyond, there is a large figure of Nataraja, dancing in the hall at Chidambaram, with priests and devotees on one side and a prince, obviously Rajaraja and three of his queens, with a large retinue adoring the lord. Close by, on the walls opposite, are some charming miniature feminine figures. Beyond this, on the wall opposite the northern one, are five heads peeping out of a partially exposed Chola layer.

The whole space on the northern wall has for its theme the fight of Tripurantaka. The gigantic figure of Siva is on a chariot driven by Brahma. Tripurantaka is shown in the alidha pose of a warrior, with eight arms fully equipped with weapons, using his mighty bow to overcome the asuras, a host of whom the painter has depicted opposite Siva, with the fierce indomitable spirit clearly portrayed in their attitude, fierce eyes, flaming hair and upraised weapons, daunted by nothing, little caring for the fears or tears of their women as they cling to them in fear and despair. Less as aids and more as companions of Siva are shown Kartikeya on his peacock, Ganesa on his mouse and Kali, the war-goddess, on her lion. Nandi is shown complacently quiet in front of his chariot. This is a great masterpiece of Chola art. This figure of Tripurantaka in the alidha pose in the Pallava tradition is seated and is a remarkable specimen continuing the earlier mode.

The paintings in the Brihadisvara temple constitute the most valuable document on the state of the painter's art during the time of the early Cholas, all the grace of classical painting observed at Sittannavasa, Panamalai and Kanchipuram being continued in this fine series.

The Chola paintings reveal to us the life, the grandeur and the culture of the Chola times. The special stress on Nataraja in his sabha hall as a favourite deity of the Cholas and the military visions and ideals of the Cholas in general, and of Rajaraja in particular, are almost symbolically ex-pressed in the great masterpiece of Tripurantaka.

The colours are soft and subdued, the lines firm and sinewy, the expression true to life and, above all, there is an ease in the contours of these figures which have a charm of their own.

If expression is to be taken as the criterion by which a great painter has to be judged, it is here in abundance in these Chola paintings. The sentiment of heroism, virarasa, is clearly seen in Tripurantaka's face and form. The vigorous attitude of the Rakshasas determined to fight Siva and the wailing tear-stained faces of their women clinging to them in despair suggest an emotion of pity, karuna and raudra. Siva as Dakshinamurti seated calm and serene is a mirror of peace, santa. The hands in the vismaya of the dancer suggests the spirit of wonder, adbhuta; the grotesque dwarf ganas in funny attitudes playing the drum and keeping time represent hasya; the commingling of emotion is complete in the large Tripurantaka panel which is a jumble of vira, raudra and karuna.

Writer – C. Shivarammurti 

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On Initaion

July 25, 2013, 2:04 am

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By the Hindu or Buddhist devotees, the pattern of intentional language is viscerally understood; though none but the scholars among them could or would hazard speculations about the origins of intentional language, it is, as it were, unconsciously operational with them. The same, of course, holds for mantra. In a critical study like ours, therefore, it was necessary to establish the status of mantra and of intentional language, before proceeding to the fundamental routine of the Tantric devotees' career, diksa or initiation.

The word diksa is defined as 'preparation or consecration for a religious ceremony, undertaking religious observances for a particular purpose and the observances themselves (Atharvaveda and other Vedic passages); dedication, initiation (personified as the wife of Soma in ggveda); any serious preparation as for battle; self-devotion to a person or god, complete resignation or restriction to, exclusive occupation with. The underlying root is diksa to 'consecrate, dedicate', and it may be a rare desiderative of diksa to grow, to increase, to be able, to be strong'.

The word diksa" is used in all Indian vernaculars and is one of common though slightly sophisticated religious parlance every-where, but it retains its connotation as 'spiritual initiation' only, in the modern languages, the other meanings being no longer covered by the word in any of the languages.

The dictionary omits the most important aspect of diksa, how-ever, i.e. that its content must be a mantra of some sort, or that a mantra must be part of its content. A person may be initiated into the use, say, of a manclala, a yantra, or into the performance of a yajila (ritualistic sacrifice), but along with it a mantra is invariably imparted. Herein lies an important difference between diksa and abhisekha 'anointment' for the latter never requires the conferring of a mantra on the neophyte.

The notion and the practice of diksa is common to Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism alike; tribal groups who were listed as 'animists' and do not belong to any of the three high religions also employ a sort of diksa, probably in emulation of their Hindu surroundings; the Todas of the Nilgiris in south India impart a regular mantra to their sons, in analogy to the upanayana (investiture with the sacred thread) ceremony of the twice-born Hindus; instead of the Gayatri, a mantra commencing with 'UM' is given to the boy, in the Toda language.

In the state of Mysore (Chikmaghlur District), there is a shrine on top of a mountain, called `Dattatreyapitha', i.e. 'mound of the sage Dattatreya', who was, of course, a Hindu seer, connected with the worship of the Trimurti (Brahma, Vispu, Maheivara). The local story goes that due to some quarrels among the officiating priests, a Muslim sufi, Baba Qalandar Shah, was asked to look after the mound; the tradition was then kept alive, and a Muslim mahant (abbot) has been in charge of the Pitha up to this day. He is chosen by his predecessor and trained by him; he gives him diksa after the training is completed and although I did not succeed in recording the mantra used by the present Muslim mahant, it was quite clearly a mixture of garbled Sanskris and Arabic. Also, the devotees visiting the shrine arc blessed by the mahant, with an invocation containing elements of both the languages there is `0M' and Tismilliihr in the lengthy mantra. Along with it, the mahantgives `prasaa' in exactly the same manner as Hindu priests do.

The notion of diksa provides us, as a semantic by-product so to speak, with a definition of a guru for a guru is one who has received diksa from one or more gurus, is capable of conferring, and has actually conferred diksa on another person or persons. All other qualifications spiritual maturity, age, renown, learning, etc. are marginal to guru-hood. lithe question 'who is a guru?' is put to any practising Hindu, he will usually say 'one who gives diksa '. As we shall see a bit further down, the formal conferring of diksa is not always regarded as prerequisite of guru-hood yet it is implicit even when there is no formal act.

The types of diksa correlate with the adhikdra or 'specific entitlement' of the conferee. A person receives the diksa of the divine form or principle which he is fit to worship or approach. One and the same mantra may be used in various diksas, according to the spiritual adhikara of the adept and to the purpose of the initiation. Thus, the Mrtymijaya-mantra is used for initiation into the worship of iva-Paiupati; into the worship of Ardhandrigvara, i.e. the hermaphrodite form of iva; into the worship of the goddess as in the Mahanirvana Tantra; for removing illnesses (or, rather, for initiating a person who wants to achieve the capacity to cure illnesses); among the Viraiaivites of Mysore, to initiate a jangama, a Viragaivite monk, into the Order of Lingiyats; and to initiate a person into miscellaneous aivite and; -ikta rituals.

The study of adhikara-bheda is part of the daily schedule in almost all monastic training institutions in India. What the students learn are chiefly the laksanas or 'signs' by which to recognize what person is capable for a particular rite, as also what kind of meditation, etc., is likely to yield proper results for a particular aspirant.

I shall now list some important categories of diksa.

The distinction made by some Indian author between 'group' and 'individual' initiation is not really functional, because diksa is strictly a one-to-one interpersonal process between one guru and one disciple. The fact that several persons are frequently initiated at a time does not mean that a 'group' diksa is involved; it is usually done for convenience's sake, especially if the guru is a famous and well-sought-after teacher who consents to give diksa to hundreds of people every year. What actually happens in such cases is that he assembles those whom he regards as having the same adhikara; he then gives them the common instruction jointly; but, subsequently, each of the aspirants comes up to him separately and he whispers the latter's particular mantra into his ear; but this is no 'group' diksa. The Hindu and the Buddhist alike distinguish very sharply, though perhaps not in a formulated manner, between group instructions, individual instructions, and diksa, which is always a one-to-one affair. Group and individual instruction (upadda) may seem, to the outsider, very similar to a formal ; but it is never the same. Upadeia does not have the spiritual power of diksa nor has it any charismatic function. In the whole history of diksa, there has actually been only one known case where something like a genuine group diksa took place. That was when the medieval founder of the Visistadvaita School, Sri Ramanuja, proclaimed the man from NAMO NARAYANAYA' to all the peope assembled at the riraligarn shrine, flouting the injunction of his own guru to keep the mantra secret and to impart it only to deserving and well-tested individuals. The Sthalapurana then says 'the ciairya thus gave diksa to all the hundreds, all the hundreds were thus initiated at once'. Similar stories are told about Ramanuja's Bengali counter-part ri Caitanya Deva, the famous Vaisnava reformer. The Caitanya Caritiimrtal narrates how the saint initiated thousands at the threshold of the jagannaha Temple in Puri (Orissa); but the narrative is a complete analogy to the Rima-nuja episode and it seems almost beyond doubt that it is a copy, whatever the authenticity of the former story had been. Learned Hindu opinion rejects any such possibility, for individual conferring of diksa is felt to be part of its definition. What has been said about mantra" holds, mutatis mutandis, for diksa as well.

Writer – Agehananda Bharti

The Cultural Background

July 27, 2013, 3:50 am

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To understand any great art, one has to view it as an organism with its own soul, forms of expression and conventions. Art is the symbol of the culture to which it belongs, acquiring its style of expression in relation to it. Every culture has thus its own style of art, and one must know the culture to understand its phases of development. This is also true of Kangra art.

All great art is inspired by religion. The paintings and sculpture of Ajanta and the great monument of Borobudur in Java we their origin to the inspiration of Buddhism. Christianity inspired paintings of sublime quality in medieval Italy and Spain. The Hindu painting of Rajasthan and the Punjab hills, known as Rajput painting, because the patrons were Rajput princes, was inspired by the Vaishnava faith.

The 11^thcentury witnessed the rise of Vaishnavism as the creed of the Hindus. In the field of literature, Prakrits and later regional languages replaced Sanskrit. The heralds of the dawn were Ramanuja and Jayadeva. Ramanuja (A.D. 1017-1137) was born in the village of Sriperumbudur, south-east of Kancheepuram in Tamil Nadu. He mastered the Vedas and the sacred books, and wrote commentaries on the Vedanta, the Sutras, and the Bhagavad-Gita. As a pilgrim he travelled widely over India, visiting Jagannath, Kasi, Badrinath in the Himalayas, and other places. His earthly journey came to an end at Sriranganatha in A.D. 1137.

Ramanuja popularised the worship of Vishnu as the Supreme Being and Creator of all things. According to Vaishnava doctrine, Vishnu pervades all creation, Lakshmi supplying His energy. When sins multiply, He becomes incarnate to rid the earth of its burden. The followers of Ramanuja venerate (iligreima, the ammonite stone, and the tulasi plant as symbols of Vishnu and Lakshmi.

Jayadeva was born at Kenduli in the district of Birbhum, West Bengal, and in course of time became one of the five court poets of Raja Lakshmana Sen, who ruled Bengal about A.D. 1170. In his early years he was a wandering ascetic. In the course of his travels, he visited the holy shrine of Jagannath and there a strange event changed the course of his life. Padmavati, a beautiful Brahmin girl, was to be dedicated as a temple-girl to Lord Jagannath, but it is said that the image ordered her father to bestow the girl upon the saint Jayadeva. Much against his wishes, Jayadeva accepted her, and she attended on him like his shadow. Inspired by her beauty, he composed the immortal poem, Gita Govinda, the Song of the Divine Cowherd, in which he describes the love of Krishna and Radha. The poem won wide popularity and is still chanted in Bengal and the Karnatak.

The Gita Govinda is a symbolical love song based on the poet's spiritual experience. Krishna is the human soul attached to earthly pleasures and Radha, the heroine, is Divine Wisdom. The milkmaids who tempt Krishna from Radha are the five senses of smell, sight, touch, taste and hearing, and the return of Krishna to Radha, his first love, is regarded as the return of the repentant sinner to God.

Ramanand, born at Melkot in A.D. 1398, was another great religious teacher. He settled at Varanasi, where he attracted a large number of devotees. He popularised the worship of Rama and Sita as incarnations of Vishnu and Lakshmi.

Another factor which promoted Vaishnavism was the emergence of Islam. From the 12th century onwards India was ravaged by Islamic hordes from the north. The monotheism of Islam and particularly the cult of Sufism had an influence on the Hindu religious thought which was already showing dissatisfaction with cold intellectualism, sterile philosophies and arid speculations of Buddhism. Islam declared that One Great God was the supporter of the world and helped the virtuous. The Hindu masses also keenly felt the spiritual need of a loving personal God. Thus developed the Krishna cult.

Kabir (A.D. 1398-1516) was a disciple of Ramanand. This great mystic denounced the pretences both of the Brahmin priests and Muslim mullcis of Banaras, but had followers both among the Hindus and the Muslims. His writings, which form the cornerstone of Hindi literature, were compiled by a certain Dharam Das. Dharam Das and his son, Kamal, are often shown with Kabir in Kangra paintings.

It was Eastern India, the provinces of Bihar and Bengal, which became the home of the Radha-Krishna cult. Vidyapati (fl.A.D. 1400-70), the poet of Bihar, wrote in the Maithili dialect on the Radha and Krishna theme. He was the most famous of the Vaishnava poets of Eastern India. He was inspired by the beauty of Lacchima Devi, queen of his great patron, Raja Sib Singh. Sib Singh was summoned by Akbar to Delhi for some offence, and Vidyapati obtained his patron's release by an exhibition of clairvoyance. The incident is thus described by Grierson. "The emperor locked him up in a wooden box, and sent a number of courtesans of the town to bathe in the river. When all was over he released him and asked him to describe what had occurred, when Vidyapati immediately recited impromptu one of the most charming of his sonnets, which has come down to us, describing a beautiful girl at her bath. Astonished at his power, the emperor granted his petition to release Sib Singh."' In the love-sonnets of the great master-singer of Mithila we find sacredness wedded to sensuous joy. There are vivid word-pictures of the love of Radha and Krishna painted in musical language. Coming direct from the heart they remind us that there is nothing so beautiful and touching as simplicity.

A contemporary of Vidyapati was Chandi Das (fl.A.D. 1420) who lived at Nannur in Birbhum district of West Bengal. "Representing the glow and ardour of impassioned love", says Dinesh Chandra Sen, "he became the harbinger of a new age which soon after dawned on our moral and spiritual life and charged it with the white heat of its emotional bliss." Chandi Das had fallen in love with a washer-woman, Rami by name, and in describing the physical charm of the heroine of his poetry he was drawing upon his own experience. In the poems of Chandi Das, sensuous emotions are sublimated into spiritual delight and the pleasures of the senses find an outlet in mystic ecstasy.

Chaitanya (A.D. 1486-1533) was the prophet of Vaishnavism in Bengal. Nimai, as his original name was, belonged to a Brahmin family of Nadia. While still a young man he felt the urge for renunciation of worldly ties and left his home and young wife. He reached Puri, and Prataparudradeva, the Raja of Orissa, became his disciple. From there he wandered into South India where he discoursed to people in Tamil. Far more impressive than his discourses were his mystic trances. Tears flowed from his eyes, and as he lay on the ground the very sight of him sanctified men. Scholars groaning under the weight of learning and philosophers weary of old and heartless intellectualism felt humble in his presence and experienced a strange emotion which cured the sickness of the soul. Here was a teacher who was not teaching intricate philosophies, but the strange power of love, which they could themselves experience. This emotional religion, which believed in sensitising of emotions and sublimating them, rejected reasoning and subtleties of the intellect. His life was a living poem, and his spiritual force had a mesmerising effect on the people. The very sight of the dark-blue clouds, the ocean or the river re-minded him of his God, Krishna, and he fell into a trance. As Dinesh Chandra Sen describes: "He fainted at the sight of the lightning which he mistook for the bright purple robe of the Lord. The chirp of the birds was continually mistaken for the sound of the flute, and he thought that Some One called him to his embrace by the sweet music. The cranes flew in the dark-blue sky in flocks looking small from a distance and Chaitanya thought them to be a string of pearls decorating the breast of his dark-blue God. At the sight of every hillock he fell into a trance, reminded of the Govardhan hills where Krishna had sported, and every river showed him the ripples of the Yamuna on the banks of which the pastoral Ciod had played with his fellow cowherdu. 'I he nowert: reminded 1iiiiof the braid of the Krishna's eyes and he wept when he touched them, reminded of the Divine touch, soft and sweet. Miami Mien I he smell Of tloweru emanating from the Puri temple kept him tied to the spot like a MOM; he thought that his Krishna was approaching and the seent of a thousand flowers announced his approach, and he trembled in deep emotion with tearful eyes and passed into a trance."

The religious revival also stimulated literary activity. The cults of Rama and Sita, Krishna and Radha were the source of inspiration to many poets who wrote in Sanskrit and Hindi. Jayadeva, Ramanand and Kabir are among the most prominent. Malik Muhammad Jayasi completed Pachmivat, his well-known romance, in A.D. 1540 and Keshav Das, the court poet of Indrajit Shah of Orchha, wrote his famous love poem Rasikapriyd in A.D. 1591. Tulsi Das, one of the greatest of Hindi poets, was born in A.D. 1532. His Rdmayana is the most popular book in the villages of Avadh, and it is the basis of the moral and religious life of millions of people.

Bihari Lal, who lived in Mathura, the home of the Braj-Bhasa dialect, completed his Sat Sal, or 700 couplets on the Krishna legend, in A.D. 1662. These little poems are gems of Hindi literature and have won much fame for their author.

In the 16^th and 17^th centuries, the way was thus being prepared for the emergence of a new form of art born of the rapidly spreading Vaishnava cult in which spiritual experience was symbolised by the relations of the Lover and the Beloved.

In this art the worlds of spiritual purity and sensuous delight are interwoven, religion and aesthetics moving hand in hand in quest of Reality. The Gita Govinda and the Rameiyana have been illustrated both in the Basoldi and Kangra styles. Padmavati, whose story is sung by Jayasi, is the subject of a number of paintings. The eight Ardyikais and Bcircimeisti are favourite themes alike with Kangra painters and the Hindi poets Keshav Das, Matiram, Bansidhar, Ramguni and Gang, and numerous paintings which illustrate their works are extant. Another important source of inspiration to the Kangra artists is the culture of the Punjab. 

This source has not been adequately considered by art critics, who usually have little knowledge of the province, its people and culture. In Kangra paintings, particularly those of Nurpur and Guler, which' were close to the plains, the dress of the women is typically Punjabi; they are usually shown as wearing suthhatz that resembles breeches, kamiz, and dupaltd. The popular love tales of the Punjab Hir Ranjha, Mirza-Sahiban and Sohni-Mahinwal are often illustrated by the Kangra artists. Reference may now be made to the great Sikh movement in the plains of the Punjab. Nanak (A.D. 1469-1538), the first Sikh Guru, freed the Punjabi mind from superstition and ritualism, and called upon people to break through the barriers of institutionalised priestly religion. Guru Nanak made extensive use of the local language, and Angad, his successor, devised the Punjabi alphabet, based mainly on Takri. Arjan (A.D. 1581-1606), the fifth Guru, compiled the Guru Granth, in which he incorporated Nanak's Japji, as well as the religious poetry of Kabir, Jayadeva, Namdev, Dhanna, Pipa, the Gurus Amar Das and Ram Das and other bhaktas.

Gobind Singh (A.D. 1675-1708), the tenth Guru, chose Anandpur, a village at the foothills of the Shivaliks for his residence. He was a champion of the downtrodden and constantly fought the Mughal armies and the Hill Chiefs from Anandpur on the Sutlej to Paunta on the Yamuna. He was not only a soldier, but a poet and a scholar well versed in Persian, Hindi and Sanskrit.

He translated the legends of Rama and Krishna. His Chodi-ki-weir, which deals with the exploits of Durga, is written in powerful language. Besides being a poet himself, the Guru kept fifty-two bards permanently in his employ. Their compositions, which must have been considerable, were lost during the wars against the Mughal Emperor and the Hill Chiefs.

The ten Sikh Gurus have been painted by the court artists of Guler and Kangra. From 1810 the Kangra Valley was under the rule of the great Ranjit Singh, and Sikh influence is apparent in Kangra paintings of this period. From 1830 onwards, we find long flowing beards and splendid turbans instead of beards trimmed in the Muslim style.

Thus, Karigra art is the visual expression of a cultural movement with roots in a great spiritual upsurge. Kangra painting is not a sudden development unrelated to the life of Northern India, but is the culmination of a spiritual and literary revival of Hinduism. Dr. Coomaraswamy rightly observes that "these works are an immediate expression of the Hindu view of life. Here is that distinct, sharp and wiry bounding line which Blake, most Indian of modern Western minds, regarded as the golden rule of art and life. A line so deliberate, so self-confident, so full of wonder at the beauty of the world, especially the beauty of women, and at the same time so austere, could not be a sudden achievement, nor depend on the brilliance of a single personality. It is the product of a whole civilization."

Writer – M.S. Randhawa

Tantric Terminology

June 8, 2013, 2:31 am

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I do not think that a whole chapter on terminology in the early portions of this book rather than as an appendix requires any justification; nor is it due to the author's linguistic-analytical slant in his philosophical interests. A book attempting to survey the tantric tradition in its essentials must give very special attention to terminology and definition. In a wider or more general sense, this has been done in the preceding chapter. However, reference to established Hindu and Buddhist philosophical terminology is neither sufficient nor warrantable, because a considerable portion of nontantric Hindu and Buddhist philosophical nomenclature was subjected to semantic change, sometimes subtle, sometimes very radical indeed. A term frequently and innocuously used, say, in the Madhyamika-karikas, and translated by one constant term into Tibetan, does not necessarily have the same meaning in Tibetan or Indian tantric texts. The fact that the student sees the terms consistently used in the Indian original and in the Tibetan translation might tempt him to assume that they mean the same when they appear in a Sanskrit tantric text and its Tibetan translation. This is dangerous even when the term occurs in Sanskrit Hindu and Buddhist texts alone, where no Tibetan translation is available hardly any Hindu Sakta text appears in the Tibetan tantras (rgyud). The best example is Sanskrit mundra, which means 'the female adept' in the Buddhist tantric lore, and 'parched kidney beans' and other spiced grains in the Hindu Sakta tradition; quite apart from the many tantric and non-tantric passages, Hindu and Buddhist, where mundra means a ritualistic or iconographic gesture.

The purpose of this chapter, then, is to analyse some crucial Sanskrit and Tibetan Buddhist tantric terms and to establish their exact connotation. This has so far not been done, largely due to a lack of communication between philosophers and cultural anthropologists on the one side, and philologically oriented Buddhologists on the other. The fault seems to be that of the Buddhologists, who did not care, up to this day, to brush up their occidental vocabulary and to provide precise renditions of Buddhist, and a fortiori, tantric philosophical terminology. The reason for this neglect seems to lie in the notion that occidental philosophy works on totally different lines and that it can there-fore not provide terminological equivalents. This was true with the traditional western philosophers who excluded Indian thought from their study as below philosophical dignity' and whose attitude was reciprocated by the orientalist brand of counter-arrogance: that western philosophy was lacking the spiritual in-sight which could help it tackle the esoteric problems of Asian thought. Traditional philosophy say, up to Russell and Ayer was really not interested in creating a precise vocabulary that could suggest operational equivalents for Indian and Tibetan scholastic terminology. The analytical schools of Britain and America, however, have worked out a vocabulary which could be highly useful in rendering the former intelligible. To my know-ledge, however, no indologist with the exception of H. V. Guenther in India and Europe and Karl H. Potter in North America have cared to avail themselves of the work that has been done by occidental philosophers who regard language analysis as the main function of philosophy.

I shall start with a simple example: Tibetan sems, Sanskrit citta, is translated by such vague terms as 'mind' or even 'sour the latter being a downright atrocious translation so far as Buddhism is concerned. At best, the inadequacy of such renditions is admitted with a shrug as a bequest of last-century indology. However, I feel convinced that modern philosophy does give us an instrument to work out these vexing problems. With the growth of Tibetan Buddhist studies arose the habit of giving the Sanskrit term for the Tibetan in lieu of a translation, thus shelving the real issue; for while it is true that, for example, `nirmanakaya' is the Sanskrit equivalent of 'sprul sku', it is not very helpful to just write ` nirmanakaya ' in Roman characters, although the realization of the inadequacy of a term like 'phantom-body' is laudable. For what, then, is the 'nirmanakaya'?

It goes without saying that we cannot impugn the Tibetan translations of the original Sanskrit terms, and that for logical reasons: the Tibetans had no concepts matching the learned terminology of their Indian preceptors. We must assume that Buddhism was planted on a conceptual vacuum in Tibet. Any term chosen once, and used without modification, had come to stay. It is quite unlike trying to find an occidental term for a Sanskrit or Tibetan scholastic idiom, because occidental languages have a backlog of viable, even though risky, Graeco-Roman-Judaeo-Christian concepts. This shows itself in the translation of such innocuous words as (deva) as `god' or dnos pa (vastu) as 'substance' or 'nature'. 'Substance' cannot get rid of its Thomistic or Aristotelian flavour, and there is nothing of the kind in the Buddhist `vastu'. We shall see, however, that contemporary, non-Aristotelian philosophy might provide a useful term for the Buddhist concept. H. V. Guenther suggests 'reality', which would be acceptable if, as he does, the word is used as shorthand for 'all objects'; in other words if the Aristotelian flavour hovering around nouns suffixed by -ty can be kept out. I would recommend 'totality of sense-data' or even just 'all objects'; and never omitting the article for deva 'a god'.

To say that Tibetan renditions of Sanskrit terminology are 'more exact' than any western rendition is a sort of wrongly formulated tautology: the Tibetan term had to create the new concept, not to translate it. Translation is possible where both languages have words for a concept; if we call the work oldie Lo tsa ba 'translation', it is either incorrect or a courtesy: for he had to concoct Tibetan words for the Sanskrit original. Linguists might call this a one-zero relational process.

I believe that the cumbersome but accurate terminology of contemporary analytic philosophy has to be used to outgrow terminological nonchalance, even at the risk of having to adopt tools which so far belonged to another discipline. It seems to me that the philosophical analyst's apparatus may at times tempt us to ascribe too much sophistication to the Indian and Tibetan pundits. I think Guenther often yields to this temptation his translation of sGam.po.pa sometimes reads like a psychologist's manual. The danger can be avoided if we consistently use the modern terminology under a special rubric the Indian and Tibetan philosophers' categories are intuitive ones, those of western philosophy are discursive postulates, from the crude Aristotelian 'Laws of Thought' to today's logical calculi. Hence if we translate, for instance, 'sons' by 'causal characteristic of mind', our rubric which we may call an 'intuition-rubric' would read somewhat like: 'given that the word is used not as connoting a discursive or cognitive category but as corroborating an intuitive (i.e. non-discursive) experience' sems (citta) means 'causal characteristic of mind'; `bdag med (anatman) means 'non-individuality', etc.

I now proceed with some typical paradigms. I shall concentrate, in this chapter, on terms of the 'mind' class which in. a special sense is almost coextensive with Buddhist terminology in general, 'mind' in its widest sense being all that exists particularly with the Yogacara School which provided Tantric Buddhism with its theological superstructure, sharing a hard core with the older Madhyamika teachings.

sems (citta)

Jaeschke was ignorant of the doctrinal meaning of this term in theology. In the first place, he equated it with Sanskrit sattva ('being'). S. C. Das placed it last in his enumeration of three Sanskrit equivalents; and rightly so, because in theological parlance `sems' translates `sattva' only in terms like 'mahasattva' (sems dpa cen po). It is hardly astonishing that not one of Jaeschke's English renditions was determined by a passage of theological significance he adduces only instances of trivial use, like 'sem khan du chud pa', one very much grieved', `sem chun ba', a timid mind', etc. As English equivalents he lists the vague 'spirit'-'mind'-'soul'. But these are inapplicable in any Tibetan or Indian Buddhist context; I suspect he used `sems' to render the Christian 'soul' for the benefit of his flock. None of these English terms are useful in Buddhist terminology.

S. C. Das does not fare much better. He was right about his Sanskrit equivalents, citta, manas, sattva, if his arrangement does imply descending semantical frequency!' He lists 'soul' (qualifying it 'as power of moral volition'), 'spirit'; 'the heart where the soul resides'; 'mind'.

There are two ways to produce a correct translation of this and other equally fundamental terms; we either look for a phrase which can serve as a common denominator whenever the word occurs. Thus, Guenther wrote in a different context `In the case of sems, we might use "spirituality" as a common denominator term'. 

The alternative would be to use an adequate paraphrase culled from analytical terminology each time the term occurs, putting the original in parentheses; the term is used as an operational counfer by the pandit and the Tibetan translator, and he knows its particular import from the context which can, of course, not be known through any occidental translation using vague generic terms. For example, we might say: `mental events (sems) recurrent associative event (sems) etc. Personally, I would incline towards the second method. There is the possibility of a combination of the two methods, if we agree that a particular occidental term be used as an `operational counter' each time the Tibetan `operational counter' appears in the text, provided the former is never used to translate any other original term. Thus, if we choose `spirituality' for `sems', we must not use 'spirituality'. to render any other term, like 'thugs'; at least not as long as we do not know for certain that 'thugs' and `sems' arc not complete synonyms in scholastic literature.

The most frequent amplification of sems is sems pa, which is the equivalent of Sanskrit caitta. This is a term which can be rendered most precisely by 'motivation'. The `chos mrion pa kun las btus pa' (Abhidarmasatnuccaya) identifies 'karma' with 'Motivation' in analytical philosophy includes both the urge to perform an action and the goal of the action in a teleological sense."

In an important article, Guenther elucidates some of these terms. He says, 'it has been customary to translate the terms sems (citta)" and "sems las byung ha (caitta)" by "mind" and "mental event" respectively. But this translation, however philologically correct, does not tell us much until we know what is meant by these terms in relation to each other. At first sight, the relation is comparable with that which common sense assumes to exist between "thing" and the "states of the thing". In this particular (i.e. the Buddhist tantric notion-A.B.) case, mind (sems, citta) would be the "thing" and mental event (sems las byung ba, caitta) the "state of the thing".

This is borne out by an important tantric text, which says 'this mind under consideration, when it has been changed by conditions such as trances and dispositions, should be known as only a state of mind'." Hence, whenever `sems (citta) occurs together with `sems las byung ba' (caitta), we might translate it as 'conditioned mind' and 'state of mind' respectively. The necessity of separate renderings of 'sons' becomes evident from these two examples. In one case, when it translates `citta' we use 'conditioned mind'; and in the other, when it translates `cetanci' we use 'motivation'; now compare these different renditions for meaningfulness, with the common rendering of 'sons' as 'mind', regardless of its context. The Tibetan translators had something more specific in mind than just 'mind'. This example is important for any future study of the development of ideas in Buddhism. `Citta' in Pali is best rendered as `attituele'.'s It goes without saying that Rhys Davis, Oldenberg, and the other old-timers in Pali Buddhism constantly used 'mind' and its other occidental synonyms. I suggest that the development of Pali `citta' into tantric `citta' (sems), i.e. from 'attitude' to a `conditioned mind', is sound psychology. `Mind' generally used as Gampopa's 'operational counter' is conditioned by constantly recurring attitudes; in strict Yogicara argument it is actually but the nominalistically conceived sum-total of attitudes.

I have come to regard terminological susceptibilities as an important tool for tracing religious axioms. To use this example `citta' when used by a Brahmin scholar always means something like `mindstuff ' Swami Vivekananda constantly translated 'dila' this way; no Buddhist of any school would ever think of any sort of 'stuff' when he hears `citta'.

yid (mamas)

Jaeschke again has soul, mind; Das adds 'intellect' and both explain 'especially the powers of perception and imagination'. 'Soul' is impossible anyway; but whereas `sems' might be translated 'mind' as an operational counter, 'mind' should never be used to render 'yid' (manas). The 'powers of perception and imagination' are subsumed under all Buddhist terms of the epistemological order, the description is too wide to be of use. The precise role of 'yid' (manas) in Buddhist tantra and in Yogicira is that of conceptualization. Guenther puts it this way, 'it is that function event which is particularly concerned with conceptualization'. The Vajrayana phrase `amanasikara' (Tibetan yid la mi byed pa) implies the important meditation-hint 'not to conceptualize' the various forms that arise in the course of the contemplative's training.

In early scholastic literature, the epistemological term sems (citta), yid (manas) and rnam par 'es pa (vijnana) are as yet used synonymously (Abliidharmakoia II, 34). In tantric times, this is no longer the case; as in all scholastic philosophy, progress involved subtler terminological distinction. Yid (manas), in tantric Buddhism, transmits sensations to its centre for their interpretation. Once this interpreting function subsides as a result of the prescribed meditative processes, the individual's notions about external objects vanish and the yid (limas) is harmonized with its origin; there is no conception whatever left. 

This basis is not a substratum in the Brahmanical sense (which later incidentally converges with the Thomistic notion of a `substratum'), but a sort of pool into which things merge and from which they arise again. I think it could be likened to a 'flying start' in a horse-race: the 'flying-start' is not really a location but a function located on a particular line. The Yogacara call this the 'alayavijnana (kun ghi rnam par Les pa), the 'consciousness-receptacle' (Frauwallner translates it `Schatzkammerbewusstsein' which sounds very nice but does not seem too helpful).

Guenther does use 'mind' for 'yid' once in a while against his own knowledge of the specific use of 'yid', but in the same book he paraphrases it as 'workings of the mind'. Considering the above, I would render 'yid (manas) 'interpreting function' or 'conceptualizing function'. Rnam par Les pa (vijnana) The non-scholastic meaning of `vijficina' in Sanskrit and the derived languages is simply 'consciousness' or, sometimes, 'intellect'. In Buddhist theology, however, it is a key term, being the quintessence of the radical idealist school (Vijtianavada or Yogacara); 

In their world view, which at times seems to me to be dangerously close to solipsism, the term covers the entire natural realm, somewhat in a Berkeleyan fashion except that esse is a totaliter percipi, there being no divine mind as a separate ontological ens. Popular literature on Buddhism (Humphreys, Glascnapp) uses 'subjective-objective' and tries to explain how the objective merges in the subjective; which is an outsider's diction, there being no 'objective' of any kind in Vijnanavada nor, for that matter, in any important school of Buddhism. Jaeschke lists 'perfect knowledge, consciousness'; 'perceptions, cognitions' (i.e. as one of the five skandhas or aggregates phun po); and the inevitable 'soul', even though only that of the departed. Then, however, Jaeschke adds something very wise in parentheses: 'the significations. I presume, should be distinguished, as is done here, according to the different spheres in which they are used and not to be explained out of the other'.

Writer – Agehananda Bharati

Marwar School Painting

June 10, 2013, 12:43 am

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After the Mewar school, the grandeur of the Marwar school of painting is well expressed in the Jodhpur style, the Bikaner style and the world-famed Kishangarh style as well as in the substyles of Jaisalmer, Naugore, Ghanerao, Sirohi, Ajmer. The Kishangarh style has a unique character, but being in a state of Rathores painting there should be linked with the traditions of Jodhpur.

Like Mewar, Maru Pradesh followed the traditions of Ajanta. Its preliminary form may be seen from the artistic shape of the gate of Mandore.' This region attained fame in the domain of art and culture under the rule of the Gurjara-Pratiharas.

Tara Nath, a Tibetan pilgrim, referred to Sridhar as an artist of the 7^thcentury in Maru Pradesh. This confirms that the Marwar school of painting had its own earlier traditions. In ancient times, this territory was a part of Gujarat state, and that is why the paintings of western Rajasthan cannot be dissociated from the developed form of the Gujarat, Jain, Apbhransh and other styles. It is assumed that many pictorial Jain and Apbhransh texts were executed in Marti Pradesh. In reality, Rajasthan painting emerged from the Jain and Apbhransh styles. Western Rajasthan remained the centre of these styles.

Rashtrakoot Rajputs established their rule in ancient Maru Pradesh. The art of painting developed in Jodhpur under Jodha of the Rathore dynasty, in Bikaner under Bikaji, in Kishangarh under Kishan Singhji. In the neighbouring states it was known as the Marwari school of painting, which flourished in many styles and substyles.

Jodhpur Style

After establishing his kingdom, Jodhaji contributed impressively to the prosperity and enrichment of Indian culture in this new field. The Jain, Gujarat and Apbhransh styles were revived in new form. Credit goes to Maldeo (1532-68) for giving renewed vigour to the cultural traditions and artistic perspectives of Marwar. Before him, the Marwar style maintained its complete mastery over the Jodhpur style, but MaIdeo carved out an independent Marwar and devoted himself to the growth of the arts. From the point of view of primitive art, the Uttaradhyayan Sutra of his time, now preserved in Baroda Museum, occupies a prominent place. Glimpses of paintings of that age may also be visualised in the frescoes of Chaukhela Palace.

Many paintings of the early 17th century belong to the Jodhpur style, and even though highly influenced by the Mewari style possess their original character. Many paintings of the time of Raja Shur Singh (1595-1620) are preserved in the art and picture gallery of Baroda and in the private collection of Sangram Singh. Shur Singh was an art lover. Dhola-Marit is among the artistic historical pictorial texts compiled during his period and the Bhagwad of Pustak Prakash, Jodhpur, painted in 1610, is endowed with many special local features.

Rag-Main, an illustrated text painted in 1623 and preserved in the private collection of Sangram Singh, is a compilation of great historical value painted for the famous Vitthal Dass of Pali. These paintings are considerably influenced by the art of Marwar.

Some miniatures based on verses of Sursagar in the middle of the 17^th century in the Jodhpur style are preserved in Baroda Museum and in the collection of Sangram Singh. They express poetic sentiments elegantly. Rasikpriya, also available in Baroda Museum, was painted in the same period. Its sharpness of colour combination and abundance of ornament deserve special mention.

Another phase of Jodhpur art started in the reign of Maharaja Jaswant Singh, a man of high intellectual qualities and a keen lover of art. In his reign, Marwar became an important centre of the Krishna-Bhakti cult, which became the subject of many paintings. Jaswant Singh was the commander-in-chief of Aurangzeb hence the impact of Mughal art was inevitable.

The impact of the Mughal school in its original form has been noted in the Jodhpur style paintings of this period. They are very simple, and the sharp outlines, the expression of sentiments and colour combination in these paintings are notable. Because of the spread of the Krishna-Bhakti cult, the effect of folk art on the Jodhpur school calls for study. Traditions of folk painting were a common feature of the Jodhpur style.

Because of the great valour and courage of Durga Dass, the reign of Ajit Singh was a landmark in the annals of the development of Rajasthani art. Paintings of that age had themes like Rasikpriya, Geet-Govind, poetical texts and aspects of the royal court, hunting, festivals, processions, pictures of kings and feudal lords. Royal patronage in the reigns of Abhaya Singh and Rain Singh to artists in the Jodhpur style was generous. In the 19^th century, the Nath sect dominated the life of Marwar.

In 1803, the last phase of the Jodhpur style opened in the reign of Maharaja Man Singh. Avasji Deo Nath was the spiritual guide of Man Singh," and painting flourished in many monasteries. Sixty-three paintings of this period based on the Ras-Raj of Mati Ram were recovered from a monastery belonging to the Nath sect and are preserved in the private collections of Ram Copal Vijayavargia and Sangram Singh and in the State Museum, Jaipur.

Though in this period many paintings in the Jodhpur style were produced they were not of high artistic quality. In towns like Kuchman, Naugore, Pali, Jalore, feudal lords also encouraged painting after building galleries.

In the middle of the 19th century, with the-advent of photography, the Jodhpur style, like other styles of painting, started deteriorating.

Salient Features

The Jodhpur style is the principal style of the Marwar school, but even today a large number of paintings in this style are not available, and whatever is available belongs to the early part of the 19^th century. Despite being influenced by the Mewar school, the Jodhpur style has its own striking features, and as a result its separate constitution comes to light.

Males in this style are stoutly built and tall. Their curved mustaches, touching their throats, raised turbans and dress decorated with royal splendour are very impressive. The limbs of females are shapely and plump.

Besides local influences, the impact of the Mughal style also deserves special consideration. Application of folk art, combinations of red and yellow, depiction of feudal splendourand of simple life are also highlights of this style. Where drawings of palaces and palatial buildings were made extensively, in respect of scenery, paintings were created to suit the tastes of the capitalists of Marwar.

Principal artists of this style whose names have been identified include Virji (1623), Narayan Dass (1700), Bhatti Amar Dass (1750), Chhajju Bhatti, Kishen Dass (1800), Danna (1810), Bhatti Shiv Dass, Dev Dass, Jit Mal (1825), Kalu Ram (1831). The Jodhpur style is the principal style of the Marwar school and requires a great deal of research work.

Bikaner Style

In distant Maru Pradesh, the state of Bikaner was founded by Rao Bikaji of the Rathore dynasty in 1488. Being an integral part of Marwar and belonging to the same dynasty of Jodhpur, the artistic heritage of Bikaner is recognised as a signifi-cant link in the traditions of the Marwar school. Although influenced by many external forces, Bikaner maintains its original form intact. According to the artistic and other styles of Rajasthan, painting in Bikaner commenced its development from the end of the 16th century.

Early paintings in the Bikaner style may be traced to the pictorial Bhagwad Puran painted in the time of Rai Singh (1571-1591).8 He himself compiled the Rai Singh Mahotsav and Jyotish Ratnak texts. The impact of the Jain school is easily discern-ible in the early paintings of Bikaner. Matheran was a Jain monk who started painting Jain religious texts and exhibited the impact of the Jain school in the original Bikaner style.

The Mughal paintings of this region distinctly depict this mutual influence. Maharana Rai Singh had married Jasmade, daughter of Maharana Udai Singh (1537-1572). His second marriage took place in Jaisalmer in 1592, hence Bhagwad Puran (1599 approx.) in Bikaner style, Madhavanal Kamkalanda (1603) compiled and painted for Kunhar Raj of Jaisalmer, and Chor Panchashika (1540) compiled by Bilhan in the Mewar style and Rag-Mala (1605) painted by Nasir Di exhibit great similarity from the angles of techniques and selection of colours.

Kalyan Mal, Raja of Bikaner, established relations with the Mughals after marrying his daughter to Emperor Akbar. The rulers of Bikaner occupied prominent positions in Mughal courts." Maharana Rai Singh, who held the exalted position of governor of Burhanpur in the south from 1604 to 1611, made a good collection of artifacts. In this regard the illustrated texts of Rag-Mala are very significant.

Hence the emergence of the Bikaner style appears to date back to the later part of the 16th century. The seccind phase of the Bikaner style began in the period of Anup Singh (1669-1698), but the middle link of this style was no less significant. Because of the non-availability of paintings nothing definite can be said about this period. In the reigns of Jehangir and Shah jahan very cordial relations were maintained with the Bikaner royal house.

Because of this fact mutual exchanges of art and artists frequently took place. The oldest specimen of the Bikaner style is a painting by Noor Mohammad, son of Saha Mohammad, in 1606. A large number of such paintings are preserved in museums and private collections, and a systematic study of paintings of that age could be undertaken with their help.

In the reign of Shahjahan the number of artists greatly increased and many migrated to other places to receive royal patronage. Because of the indifferent attitude of Emperor Aurangzeb to artistic activities, artists sought patronage in the princely states of Rajasthan. The renowned Usta family of Bikaner, which was concentrated in Lahore in the Mughal period, joined the courts of Maharajas Karni Singh and Anup Singh at Bikaner in the reign of Aurangzeb. In paintings in the Bikaner style, the name of the artist along with that of his father and sanvant are engraved. Usta Asir Khan came to Bikaner from Delhi in the time of Karni Singh (1650) and developed a high sense of artistry.

Maharaja Anup Singh was a man of great literary taste and artistic temperament, hence he had a high regard for artists from Delhi and Lahore." These artists had been specialists in the Mughal style, but after going to Bikaner they had executed many paintings based upon Hindu legends, and Sanskrit, Rajasthani and Hindi poems as fitted the taste of their master. These have been recognised as fine specimens of the Bikaner style after the adoption of Rajput culture.

Dr Raghuvir Singh observes that a new synthetic Indian culture emerged in the reigns of the Great Mughals and these diverse influences had again begun to mingle and flourish in the royal courts." In the period of Maharaja Anup Singh this development attained its unique character.

His courtier Mussabir Ruknuddeen played a significant role in this process. He executed hundreds of paintings such as those entitled Keshav's Rasikpriya and Barahmasa. His whole family accepted fully the Bikaner style of painting. His son Sahabudin executed many paintings on themes of the Bhagwad Puran and his grandson Kayam painted in the Bikaner style at the beginning of the 18th century.

In the time of Anup Singh, Munna La11, Mukund, Chandu LaII and others belonging to the Matheran family also made their special contribution to the development of the Bikaner style. Artists from the Matheran and Usta families elevated the Bikaner style to its climax of glory in the reign of Anup Singh, whose pictorial texts and miniatures are preserved in the National Museum, the Baroda Museum and the private collection of Maharaja Karni Singh.

In the 18^th century the Bikaner style witnessed its third phase. With the steady downfall of the Mughals, the Bikaner style had freed itself from the impact of the Mughal style, and because of matrimonial alliances the Bikaner style was greatly influenced by the styles Of Jaipur, Bundi, Mewar and Pahari besides others. The impact of the Kishangarh style upon paintings of this period is quite discernible. In this period painters created an absolute Rajasthani style.

Artists of the Matheran family however continued to maintain their traditions. They had drafted copies of the Jain texts, and compiled such texts on festive occasions. They drew personal pictures of kings to be presented to them. Many paintings engraved with the names of artists like Munna Lall, Mukund (1668), Ram Kishan (1770), Jai Kishan Matheran, Chandu Lall (1678) along with sanvants may be viewed even today.''

Leading artists of the Usta family of that period include Kayam, Kasim, Abu Harnid, Shah Mohammad, Ahmad Al Sahabudin, Jivan who had brilliantly depicted Rasikpriya, Barah-masa, Ragragini, Krishna Lila, hunting, mehafil and royal splendour .

The Bikaner style further accelerated the process of developing frescoes in the Rajasthani tradition, palaces of Bikaner fort and many cenotaphs.

In Bikaner, superb paintings were drawn on wooden boards showing Radha-Krishna as in the wooden doors of the National Museum.'" Drawings on the hides of camels are a unique feature of the Bikaner style.

Salient Features

Because of Bikaner state's close ties with the Mughal court all salient characteristics of the Mughal style are quite visible in early paintings of the Bikaner style. Many critics therefore term it a provincial Mughal style. But drawings of slim and attractive females with eyes resembling those of deer, the frequent application of blue, green and red colours, turbans of the style of Shahjahan and Aurangzeb along with the high pagans of Marwari fashion, camels, deer and the Bikaneri style of living and the impact of Rajput culture make us believe it is a distinct style.

Rulers of Bikaner often served as governors of the Mughals on the southern frontier hence the impact of the southern style on Bikaner art is considerable. Tall and slim maidens, minute drawings of cypress and coconut trees, fountains playing and application of green colours are especially worth seeing. From the southern fronts, Rajput soldiers and artists used to return via Vijayanagar, Golconda, Ahmednagar, Malwa, hence the influence of the art of that region had its impact on local art.

In the Bikaner style, abrupt linings, delicate drawings and minute lines had particularly been drawn. Arrangement of linings was very impressive. In place of bright colours soft ones were applied. Application of red, violet, white, brown and blue had frequently been made in this style. Ornaments of beads too were frequently marked.

The manner of dressing was a synthesis of Mughal and Rajput styles. As the Kishangarh style women are drawn tall, with eyes resembling those of khanjan birds and tight blouses and lambs, goats, camels, dogs and desert landscapes drawn in the Bikaner style in the 18th century. In later styles, drawings of fringed clouds are worth seeing in the frescoes of Chandra Mahal, Lall Niwas and Sardar Mahal. Drawings of sand dunes influenced by Persian and Chinese art, mountains and foliage deserve special mention.

The Matheran and Usta families had developed the Bikaner style. Even today their descendants produce paintings on auspicious occasions such as marriages. A last ray of light of the Usta family, Hissamudin, had been internationally ac-claimed for his drawings on the hides of camels.

Kishangarh Style

The Kishangarh style of painting occupies a significant position in relation to Rajasthani painting. A style of painting which flourished in the royal court of an erstwhile tiny state located near Ajmer is famous. Credit for making it known goes to Eric Dickinson and Dr Fayaz Ali.

Kishangarh state was founded by the eighth son of Raja Udai Singh of the Rathore dynasty of Jodhpur state in 1609. Raja Kishan Singh was accorded the status of a commander leading a thousand infantrymen and 500 cavalry by Em-peror Jehangir. Closely connected with Jodhpur state and the Mughal court, the rulers of that state were conversant with the royal culture and sophisticated way of living. In the developed state of the Marwar school the Kishangarh style had acquired its unique and glorious position in the realm of Rajasthani painting after having ascended to the pinnacle of glory in the time of Savant Singh.

Raja Roop Singh, fifth in lineage (1648-1658), made' Roop Nagar his capital to avoid some strategic difficulties which had existed under the rule of Savant Singh. Roop Singh was a man of outstanding intellect endowed with a kindly heart. Like his forefathers, he had been initiated into the Vallabha sect and adopted the cult of Krishna as a way of life and means of salvation. Contemporary artists had started painting various modes of the Radha-Krishna tradition to convert these myths into reality to keep their master pleased."

After Roop Singh came Raja Man Singh (1658-1706), himself a distinguished poet as well as patron of the poets and art. He was guided by the famous poet Brind in the art of poetry. A devotee of the Vaishnav sect, he was keenly interested in subjects pertaining to the Bhakti cult. He was also an artist in his own right. Some paintings belonging to his time are preserved in the Kapad Bhandar of Kishangarh."

In the growth of painting in this region his son Raj Singh (1706-1748) also played a major role. Raj Singh was an extraordinarily brave person endowed with a strictly religious temperament as well as artistic bent of mind. He himself compiled 33 texts which greatly influenced artists of that age. From this time the king-designate, Raja Savant Singh, was much influenced by his father's dedication to art. His education and religious initiation had been performed as his father desired to live in an artistic environment. He was at home as much in Sanskrit as in music. He also took a keen interest in painting. Four paintings in the private collection of the Kishangarh royal family bear testimony to this.

Savant Singh had cultivated a great taste for poetry early in life. From 1723 to 1731 he contributed significantly to expanding the volume of poetry dedicated to Krishna-Bhakti after compiling Manorath Man jar, Rasik Ratnavali, Bihari Chan-drika. Like their forefathers they had been initiated in the Vallabha sect by their spiritual master Ran Chhor Dass.

In the style of painting created in the middle of the 18th century new trends are visualised. The pleasant temperament of Radha-Krishna is depicted in the new form. To provide fine shapes to this style, credit goes to the royal courtier-aim-artist Mordhavaj Nihal Chand. Hundreds of paintings by him remain as an invaluable heritage. The grandfather of Nihal Chand, Surdhavaj Moot Raj, came from Delhi to serve as Raja Man Singh's diwan.

Later artists of his generation contributed to the growth of the Kishangarh style. Nihal Chand illustrated the brush poetry of Nagri Dass from 1735 to 1738. After Nagri Dass's Vrindavanbass, drawings of Mussavir Ni hal Chand continued to appear in the state, but in these later drawings his magic touch was missing.

The painting of this age is often associated with the love life of Vanithani and Nagri Dass, but this is not historically true. The former ruler of Kishangarh denied this view and stated: "Vanithani was a state singer whose status in the royal family resembled that of a mother for her sister. But it was a different matter that Vanithani had herself been a singer and poetess. Paintings of that time might have been influenced by her impact."

Ancestors of Diwan Surdhavaj Moo! Raj significantly contributed to the growth of Kishangarh art, Sita Ram and Badan Singh stand eminent among them. Drawings of Amroo and Suraj Mal are ascribed to the period of Nagri Dass. The artist Nanak Ram also created many paintings in the time of the brother of Nagri Dass. Artistic workmanship performed by Ram Nath and Joshi Swami Ram, ancestors of Nanak Ram, in the period of Raja Birad Singh (1782-1788) was greatly admired. In the regime of Raja Kalyan Singh (1798-1838) an artist named Ladli Dass played a very striking role in the development of the Kishangarh style. A renowned painting titled Geet-Govind was also created in the same period.

By and by the eternal quality of the Kishangarh style began to lose its distinct character. Its deterioration began to be visible in paintings in the reign of Prithvi Singh (1840-1880). After this period, the Kishangarh style was lost in oblivion.

Salient Features

The Kishangarh style possesses some distinct features which maintain its unique identity. Drawings of limbs of males and females, colourful paintings of nature, arrangement of colours, illustrations of themes connected with the Radha-Krishna cult are some distinct features of this style.

Male figures are tall, of attractive physique with blue aura-like bunch as of hair, elevated turbans, with strings of pearls in white or blue, symmetrically developed forehead, thin lips and wide and attractive eyes stretched to the ears like khanjan birds are some unique features of the Kishangarh style. On the whole the eyes occupy such an important position that the viewer is first drawn to that spot. Pointed chin, long neck resembling a surahi of water, strong arms, round and tender fingers, transparent gowns draped down to the feet, and the whole body covered with ornaments and flowers are very distinct in the Kishangarh style.

Female figures are fair in complexion, and their wide eyes are adorned with kajal.

Semi-developed but firm breasts, body covered with lehnga, odhni and kanchuki and decorated with flowers and ornaments are salient features and half-blossomed buds of lotus in the hands exhibit the charm and beauty of the nayika-like Radha.

The natural perspective of Kishangarh and Roopangarh was endowed with lakes, mountains, gardens, various birds, and accordingly drawings of nature showed frequently large lakes spread far and wide, swans sporting in them, ducks, jahnugabi, cranes, bagula, heron and boats afloat and at anchor. Krishna engaged in romantic affairs in boats. Large buildings, white parapets covered with creepers, fountains and ponds covered with flowering lotus together make the Kishangarh style charming. Similar drawings were created in the Bundi style too, showing the love play of Radha-Krishna in the full moonlight, drawings of morning and evening clouds in crimson.

The Kishangarh style has its own combination of colours. To express tender sentiments of Radha-Krishna artists often used light colours. The principal colours were white, rose, cream and deep red. Margins are drawn in rose and green.

Writer – Jai Singh Neeraj 

Zehir-ed-Din Muhammad Babur

June 11, 2013, 2:27 am

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Zehir-ed-Din Muhammad Babur was born on February 14, 1483 in Andijan in Farghana. This place is in Uzbekistan, a Central Asian Republic of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. His father Umar Sheikh Mirza, a Turk and a descendant of Timur was the ruler of Farghana. His mother Khutlugh Nigar KhAnum was a descendant of Chingiz Khan. So both from the father's and mother's side he could claim an ancestry of unique distinction.

FAR GHANA

Babur spent the first eleven years and a quarter of his life in Farghand while his father was busy extending the frontiers of his small principality. He learnt his mother tongue Turki as well as Persian and also practised archery and horse riding. His father died in 1494 in the fort of Akshi due to the collapse of a pigeon house where he was feeding pigeons.

Babur succeeded his father as ruler of Farghana at the age of twelve. His rule of Far-ghana for twenty one years was a period of turmoil. His chief ambition in this period was to conquer the prestigious city of Samarkand built by his ancestor Timur, which was a great cultural centre of the Islamic world. This brought him into conflict with his uncles; Ahmad Miranshahi and Mahmud ChaghatAi, and later on with Shaibani Khan, the leader of Mongolo-Turkish tribe called the Uzbegs. Samarkand was a city of gardens dotted with mausoleums, including Gur-Amir, the tomb of Timur ornamented with magnificent blue tiles. It also had the observatory of Ulugh Beg, which contained a gigantic quadrant with which he compiled his famous astronomical tables.

Baur undertook two campaigns to conquer Samarkand. In 1497 after a siege of seven months he captured Samarkand. During his stay in Samarkand the nobles in Farghana taking advantage of his absence handed over a part of the state territory to his younger brother Jahangir. In February 1498 Babur left Samarkand to reconquer Farghand. He could not retrieve the lost territory and also lost Samarkand. He was forced to spend the winter in the fort of Khujand, and supported himself as well his soldiers by raiding the neighbouring villages. This was a period of great misery for him, but he kept up his courage.

Babur won back the lost territory from Jahangir who was supported by Ahmad Tambal when he defeated them at Khuban in 1499. During this year he was married to Ayisha-Sultan Begam. She did not attract him much and he mentions that out of modesty and bashfulness, he used to see her only occasionally. In fact, his indifference to his wife was due to the fact that he was infatuated with a youth named Baburi.

In 1500 Babur again attacked Samarkand. Shaibani Khan who was then the ruler of Samarkand was camping in one of the gardens outside the city walls. Babur's soldiers scaled the city walls and with the co-operation of the inhabitants, who were disgusted with the savage rule of Shaibani Khan, occupied the city. After some months Shaibani Khan returned with a large force and besieged the city. Supplies were cut off, the garrison was starved and Baur was forced to surrender. He was also compelled to give his elder sister Khanzada in marriage to Shaibani Khan. One night accompanied by his mother and a few loyal followers he escaped from Samarkand.

This was another dark period for Babur and he sought refuge with his uncles in the area around Tashkent. Shaibani Khan not only had Samarkand, but had also captured a large slice of territory of Farghana. In 1504 Babur was in a desperate situation, and only a handful of loyal soldiers remained with him.

KABUL

When in 1504 everything appeared to have been lost, Babur with his three hundred and odd followers crossed the Hindu Kush in a snow storm, stumbled into Kabul and made him-self the master of a principality named after that city. Thus began the second phase of his career. For the next twenty-two years, he was the king of Kabul which roughly corresponded to the modern Afghanistan and included Badakshan. From 1504 to 1513, with Kabul as his base, Babur again tried to conquer Samarkand. This ambition was fulfilled almost absolutely in October 1511 when he entered that city "in the midst of such pomp and splendour as no one has ever heard of before or ever since." Babur's dominions now reached their widest extent: from Tashkent and Sairam on the borders of the deserts of Tartary, to Kabul and Ghazni and the Indian frontier. It included within its boundaries Samarkand, Bokhara, Hissar, Kunduz and Farghana. But this glory was as shortlived as it was great. Uzbeg chiefs from whom Babur had snatched Samarkand in October 1511 returned to attack the city in June 1512 and inflicted a crushing defeat on Babur. Babur was forced to flee from one part of his dominions to another. He lost everywhere and finally returned to Kabul early in 1513.

The reason for Babur's discomfiture in the second half of 1512 lay in his understanding with Shah Ismael Safavi of Persia for the capture of Samarkand. For the Shah's support Babur had agreed to hold the Samarkand kingdom as his vassal, become a convert to the Shia faith, adopt all its symbols, and to impose the Shia creed on the orthodox Sunni subjects of the conquered kingdoms. This unprincipled compromise made Baur extremely unpopular with his Sunni subjects and enabled the Uzbeg chiefs to stage a come back at Samarkand.

In Kabul, Baur found time and leisure to indulge in his favourite hobby of gardening. Apart from Beigh-i-wafa ten gardens are mentioned as made by him viz., the Shahr-ãrã (Town-adorning), which contained very fine plane-trees, the Char-bagh, the Bagh-i-jalau-khanei, the Aarta-biigh (Middle-garden), the Saurat-bagh, the Bligh-i-inahtab (Moonlight-garden), the Bilgh-i-ahu-khana (Garden-of-the-deer-house), and three smaller ones. In these gardens he held his feasts and drink parties.

HINDUSTAN

Babur now diverted his restless ambition to India. To be sure of success he took one of the most important steps of his life. Profiting from the example of Shah Ismael, he began building up effective artillery and sometimes between 1514 and 1519 secured the services of an Ottoman Turk. Named Ustad Ali, who became his master of ordnance.

Having, thus, strengthened his fighting machine a great deal, Babur started a probe into Hindustan. Early in 1519, he went in for what is called his first expedition in India. He stormed Bdjaur which offered a spirited resistance but was ultimately forced to accept defeat before Babur's artillery. Babur massacred the population of the city to avenge the losses he had suffered as a result of the unexpected resistance of the people of Bajaur, but more so to warn the people of other cities of the fate awaiting them if they chose to resist his army. His purpose was well served. When he reached Bhera on the Jhelum, no resistance was offered. That encouraged him to claim for the first time entire north-western India on the plea that it once formed part of Timur's empire. Perhaps he would have followed this claim with a deeper penetration in the interior of the Punjab if he was not told that back home a conspiracy was being hatched against him.

In September 1519 Babur invaded Hindustan again. This was his second expedition to Hindustan. He marched through Khyber, subdued the turbulent Yusafzai tribe and provisioned the Peshawar fort for future operations. He was forced to give up his ambition of going further at this stage because of disturbing news from Badakshan.

After taking possession of Badakshan, Babur marched into India on his third expedition early in 1520. As in his first expedition, now also he first went to Bajaur and from there proceeded to Ehera. But this time he did not stop at Bhera. Subduing the recalcitrant Afghan tribes, he proceeded to Sialkot which submitted without striking a blow. When he moved on to Saiyidpur, he met a tough resistance but ultimately succeeded in subduing the place. Perhaps with the same object in view that had motivated his massacre of the people of Bajaur two years ago, he mercilessly massacred the people of Saiyidpur. That could have been a prelude to his moving into Lahore but on hearing that the ruler of Kandahar, Shah Beg Khdn was marching on Kabul, he hastily returned to Kabul.

Babur did not invade India for the next four years. Between 1520 and 1522 he was busy subduing Shdh Beg. In the following two years he strengthened his position in Kandahar. But he had by no means given up the Indian project. He further improved his artillery by securing the services of Mustafa..., another Turkish expert.

Bdbur embarked on his fourth expedition to India in 1524 on the invitation of Daulat Khan Lodi, the powerful Wazir of the Punjab. He marched into the valleys of the Jhelum and the Chenab, and became the master of both Lahore and Dipalpur. Much to the disappointment of atulat Khan, who had invited Babur to serve his political ends, Babur now proclaimed the major part of what subsequently became the Lahore and Multan subas of the Mughal Empire as part of his Kabul kingdom. He appointed his own governors over these areas and offered Daulat Khan the petty governorship of the Jullundur Doab. Little wonder that no sooner Babur went back, Daulat Khan raised a big army to fight him.

Babur invaded India again in November 1525. This was his fifth invasion of India. Because he anticipated a tough resistance from Daulat Khan and also a sharp conflict with Sultan Ibrahim Lodi, he now went to India with "the largest army he had ever led into Hindustan." Daulat Khan's army melted away at his approach but with Ibrahim, Babur had to fight the most crucial battle of his life on 21 April, 1526, the First Battle of Panipat.

The First Battle of Panipat began the last phase of Babur's life. It is well known in all its details to the students of Indian history and may be briefly told. Babur states, "I placed my foot in the stirrup of resolution, and my hand on the reins of confidence in God, and marched against Sultan Ibrahim, the son of Sultan Sikandar, the son of Sultan Bahlol Lodi Afghan, in whose possession the throne of Delhi and the dominions of Hindustan at that time were; whose army in the field was said to amount to a hundred thousand men, and who, including those of his Amirs, had nearly a thousand elephants." For the first time in the history of India artillery was used in warfare. Ustad Kuli Khan was the master gunner of Babur. Indian elephants fled in terror on hearing the sound of artillery, trampling Ibrahim's soldiers. By mid-day the battle was over. Ibrahim Lodi, lay dead with 30,000 of his soldiers.

Soon after the battle of Panipat, Babur proclaimed himself as the Padshah of Hindustan with his headquarters at Agra. At Agra he laid a garden near the Jumna. During the heat of summer he sought refuge in this garden.

Babur defeated Rana Sangha in the battle of Khanna on 16 March, 1527, captured the fort of Chanderi on 29 January, 1528, and humbled the Afghans in the battle of Gogra on 6 May, 1529. Now he was master of northern India. He died on 26 December, 1530 at the age of forty-seven years, ten months and eleven days after an illness of more than six months. Thus ended a stormy career which culminated in the founding of Mughaldynasty which enormously enriched the cultural life of India. The Mughals gave India new architecture, terraced gardens with flowing water, and a new style of painting.

Writer – M.S. Randhawa