- Title
- Displeased Heroine (Kalahantarita), Nayika Painting Appended to a Ragamala (Garland of Melodies)
- Date Made
- circa 1625
- Medium
- Opaque watercolor, metallic paint, and ink on paper
- Dimensions
- 7 1/16 x 5 5/8 in. (18 x 14.28 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.73.2.3
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
This painting, and its series mates M.73.2.3-.10, represent the expansion into Nepal of a very old Indian poetic tradition that explores the subtle nuances of the changing emotional relationships between men and women through poetic depictions of heroines (nayika) and heroes (nayaka). The theme of men and women in different amorous situations and their resultant emotions was often conjoined with ragamala (Garland of Melodies) imagery.
At the top of each painting is a Sanskrit verse describing a nayika theme drawn from the poetry of Bharata (active first century AD [?]). This painting depicts the kalahantarita heroine who is displeased by her lover.
These Nepali nayika paintings were modeled upon Indian prototypes. The heroes and heroines wear contemporary northern Indian Rajput clothing and jewelry, but the artist has introduced local architectural elements and furnishings. Other Nepalese conventions are the elaborate stylized curtain above the heroine and the use of a multicolored lotus pedestal in the foreground.
This group of nayika paintings was once appended to a ragamala album now in the Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena.
- Selected Bibliography
- Pal, Pratapaditya. Nepal: Where the Gods are Young. New York: Asia House Gallery, 1975.
- Pal, Pratapaditya. Art of Nepal. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; University of California Press, 1985.
