The
heroine of this painting represents the type who braves a fierce night storm in
order to keep her rendezvous with her lover (abhisarika). Steadfast in her
determination and quest, the heroine is heedless of the danger of the raging
storm's lightning and blinding rain. She ignores the cobras slithering by her
feet as well as the loss of gold ornaments in her haste. Indeed, her ardor
burns like an ascetic's penanc9 In the Rasikapriya, Kesavadas tells of the
wives of the goblins of the forest commonly represented in paintings of this
type but oddly absent here who ask the heroine, "Whence have you learnt
this yoga? Oh Abhisarika, how marvellous this trysting!". The imagery of
the impetuous heroine in theft storm was the most popular of all the nayikas to
be portrayed in the painting of the Panjab Hills. It is conceptually related to
the theme of Sohni braving the river's raging currents to meet her lover
Mahinwal.
A
mixture of styles is present in this painting. The figure follows Garhwal
conventions and, in fact, is based on earlier Garhwal nayikas from about
1770-8o. In contrast, the landscape and sky are more akin to Kulu pictorial
traditions in their treatment and palette. This stylistic plurality apparently
caused even a leading scholar of Pahari painting, Karl Khandalavala, to
attribute it to an "unidentified" workshop. Pigment analysis and a
technical examination support a date in the early nineteenth century for the
painting, so the possibility of a modern stylistic pastiche can be ruled out.
The
most likely solution to the question of the painting's origin, suggested by Roy
Craven (personal communication) and followed here, is that it was executed by
the well-known poet and painter of Garhwal, Mola Ram, whose literary skills are
generally considered to have exceeded his pictorial ones. Indeed, certain
details, such as the distinctive earring, exaggerated curve of the bangles,
treatment of the storm clouds, and the lackluster draftsmanship of the figure,
all accord with Mola Ram's known works.
Writer Name:- Pratapaditya Pal
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