Among the most distinctive and appealing
representations of divine couple Radha and Krishna are those painted at
Kishangarh in Rajasthan during the eighteenth century. The often unusually
large portraits and narrative scenes are graced with a unique facial and
figural style, which is immediately striking in this moonlit painting of
Krishna gathering lotus blossoms for Radha, who is seated on a lake-edge
terrace. The characteristic almond-shaped, upturned eyes; long, pointed noses;
and graceful, elongated figures are the hallmark of Kishangarh painting. This
lyrical, "sloe-eyed" portrait style was probably devised by Nihal
Chand (c. 1715-8o), the royal atelier's master artist, and may have originally
been intended for portraits of Radha and Krishna exclusively. Attendant figures
in Kishangarh paintings also exhibit the distinctive facial features, but
sometimes in a slightly less stylized manner, as is the case here.
This representation of Krishna is also
notable in that it shows his long locks of hair flowing down his shoulders and
into the water. One of Krishna's epithets is Kesava, "long-haired,"
but the rationale for the name is usually not so readily apparent as most
portraits of the deity show his hair covered by a crown or turban.
Scenes of Krishna gathering lotuses for
Radha are thought to illustrate a poem by fir Savant Singh (see Randhawa &
Galbraith, pp. 108-9, pl. 23). Under the nom de plume of Nagari Das, he
composed a number of devotional works, including the Manoratha Manjari (1723),
Rasika Ratnavali (1725), Bihari Chandrika 0730, and Braj Sar (1742). Savant
Singh's beloved courtesan, Bani Thani, was also a poet and, as did her lover,
wrote under a pseudonym: Raskia Bihari.
Writer
Name:- Pratapaditya Pal
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