The Heroine with Her Devoted Lover (Parakiya Svadhina Patika), Folio from a Rasamanjari (Bouquet of Delights)

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The Heroine with Her Devoted Lover (Parakiya Svadhina Patika), Folio from a Rasamanjari (Bouquet of Delights)

India, Rajasthan, Mewar, circa 1620-1625
Drawings; watercolors
Opaque watercolor, gold, and ink on paper
Image: 8 11/16 x 6 7/16 in. (22.07 x 16.35 cm); Sheet: 9 7/8 x 7 1/2 in. (25.08 x 19.05 cm)
Gift of Paul F. Walter (AC1993.191.1)
Not currently on public view

Curator Notes

The Rasamanjari (Bouquet of Delights) was composed by the Bengali Sanskrit poet Bhanudatta (15th century). It classifies 384 types of female and male lovers. ...
The Rasamanjari (Bouquet of Delights) was composed by the Bengali Sanskrit poet Bhanudatta (15th century). It classifies 384 types of female and male lovers. This folio illustrates the Heroine with Her Devoted Lover (Parakiya Svadhina Patika) (Rasamanjari 73): The nayika says to the confidante: “O Sakhi [friend], how is it that my lover’s gaze - wandering in all directions and seeking me in the forest, on the street, in the house and in the company with Sakhis - chases me unceasingly, although there are beautiful deer-eyed damsels in every house, whose girdles, earrings and golden bracelets constantly make rhythmic sound by their movements.” (Translation by M. S. Randhawa and S. D. Bhambri.) Additional folios from this dispersed series are in the Cleveland Museum of Art (1960.52), National Museum, New Delhi (55.50/1-41), San Diego Museum of Art (1990.593), University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor (1980/2.242), Victoria and Albert Museum, London (IS.99-1965), Bharat Kala Bhavan, Varanasi, and the Kanoria Collection, Patna. For an alternate translation, see Sheldon Pollock, Bouquet of Rasa & River of Rasa by Bhanudatta (New York: Clay Sanskrit Library and New York University Press, 2009), p. 65.
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Bibliography

  • Pal, Pratapaditya.  The Classical Tradition in Rajput Painting.  New York: The Gallery Association of New York State, 1978.