The Sage-Physician Dhanvantari

The painting shows Dhanvantari, the divine sage linked with Ayurveda, as an old and dignified man sitting on a luxuriously decorated yellow carpet. He is dressed in the manner of a nobleman from the Mughal court, having on a white jama and a patka with a gold border adorned with a large floral design. The old look of his face, together with his white beard and Vaishnava tilak, highlight his holy and respected status. He is holding two items which are related to medicine rather than the more typical symbols of Dhanvantari, such as the vessel of amrita and the conch shell. The piece is typical of the Guler school of Pahari painting; Dhanvantari is surrounded by a well-defined outline and is placed beside a vivid orange background, with a narrow band of sky filled with clouds appearing above him. The carpet under him has floral and vegetal patterns carefully arranged, thus providing a decorative contrast to the simplified background. The painting shows that Manaku is capable of combining the traditional styles of Pahari painting with details drawn from Mughal visual culture. The figure is from the Bhagavata Purana, in which Dhanvantari appears when the ocean is stirred by the cosmos with the nectar of immortality in hand. The Smithsonian states that all of the paintings and preliminary drawings that have survived from this little Bhagavata Purana series are credited to Manaku.