The painting was created in Kashmir in 1922 and was later brought to Sotheby's auction on Mach 21,2022 and is currently at a private collection.
Sarada Charan Ukil was a refined Bengali actor and artist. He was a forerunner of the New Delhi art movement between 1920s and 1940s. He joined his friend Lala Raghubir Singh's school and taught there as an art teacher and later started his own school Sarada Ukil School of Art at Janpath,New Delhi.
Ukil drew inspiration from mythological and religious tales and used soft colours and shades and wash techniques to give his paintings slightly dazed and dreamy effect.
In this painting by him Sita is depicted as the daughter of Earth Goddess (Bhumi) pulling a boat in the calm waters of Kashmir. Instead kf portraying Sita from the high scenes of Ramayan Ukil has portrayed her as calm and teanquil here. The calm waters and green mountains add natural beauty to the painting's backdrop.
Ukil has used the key features of Bengal School of Art like soft wash of colour,restrained ornaments and flowy lines. The blue,green and earthy tones add to the painting's softness and dreamy feel.
By connecting Sita to Goddess Earth Ukil has presented the idea of motherhood,fertility,patience,endurance and selflessness. The Goddess of Earth & Sita/Towing a Boat(in Kashmir) is a spiritual painting that shows Ukil's skill of blending mythology with natural settings perfectly which creates a picture of pure devotion and elegance.
"The Goddess of Earth (Sita towing a boat in Kashmir)" by Sarada Charan Ukil is presenting Sita in a peaceful and tranquil manner, away from the dramatic scenes of Ramayana. Rather than showing her struggles, she is portrayed as calm, graceful, and deeply connected to nature. The still blue waters, green mountains, and the soft landscape has created a gentle atmosphere that reflects her personality. The artist has used a soft wash watercolour technique, flowy lines, muted cool and earthy tones, giving the painting a dreamy look. This was a famous characteristic of painting in the Bengal School of Art. In my view, the painting is a beautiful symbolism of patience, strength, selflessness. It is an indication that true divinity can be expressed through peace, compassion, and harmony with nature.
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By: Ragini Shete
Saddha Charan Ukil in these works usually shows nature and everyday life as something living: not a background, but a co-author of the plot. In “The Earth Goddess and Sita” one can feel the cult idea - as if the Earth acts as a force that gives life and order, and the image of Sita adds the motif of home, purity and stability, connecting the spiritual and everyday. The composition is probably based on expressive, “ritual” poses and soft plasticity of the figures: the gaze is drawn from the semantic center to the details of the environment - plants, earth, gestures that are read as a request, blessing or reminder of the cycles of life.
“Towing a Boat (in Kashmir)” sounds different: it is a more earthly story about work, movement and the road. The boat is pulled by people - and there is tension in this, but without theatricality: you can feel the work of muscles, sliding along the water/shore, the rhythm of effort. Kashmir here is usually perceived as a space of silence and light - soft air, water, distant outlines. The artist conveys not only the action, but also the atmosphere of the place: cool humidity, the calm passage of time, when even heavy movement seems to be part of the natural cycle.
