Shiva and Parvati on a tiger skin
Image source: asia.si.edu

Shiva and Parvati on a tiger skin

Artist:Golu
Support Type: Paper
Paint Type: Watercolor
Current Location: Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art
Location History:The painting was in the possession of scholar Catherine Glynn Benkaim, who, along with her husband, started collecting Indian paintings from the 1970s onwards. It was later transferred to the National Museum of Asian Art in 2023.

The artwork is a miniature painting from the Rasamanjari series attributed to the 18th-century artist Golu of Nurpur. Golu was the son of the famed artist Devidasa, the progenitor of Basholi painting. Both Golu, his father Devidasa, and his grandfather Kripal were known for their Rasamanjari paintings, a series of folios based on the 15th-century romantic Sanskrit work by poet Bhanudatta Misra. The paintings primarily focused on the varying themes of love, with an emphasis on the Nayaka (hero)-Nayika (heroine) dichotomy. The work "Shiva and Parvati on a tiger skin" depicts two scenes featuring the Hindu deities. The first one (left) depicts the couple walking by or standing beside a tree while embracing each other. The second scene (right) visualizes both characters lying down on a tiger skin, and Shiva is shown comfortably wrapped around Parvati, pressing her to his side. Here, Shiva is depicted as anakūl nayaka (devoted only to his beloved), perfectly encapsulating Bhanudatta's verses in Rasamanjari. True to the early Basohli-infused Pahari style, the landscape is a vibrant, flat red background that strips away environmental distractions to focus purely on the deities. The entire miniature is enclosed within a stark, bright yellow border.

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Information Compiled by Sreerag S
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