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Exotic India Arts and Religious Tools > Hindu Art Paintings
Representing the
elements of Hinduism, including Hindu gods and episodes from the Upanishads,
created in the tradition of Indian miniature painting.
 In her perpetual battle against the negative forces threatening the world, the
valiant goddess Durga often manifests further incarnations of her own power (shakti),
known as 'matrikas' (mothers). There she is, riding her sprinting tiger
sideways, much like the graceful women of India do so even today on two-wheeled
vehicles. Marching in unison are the seven mothers, dressed modestly (and
simply) from head to toe, at the same time brandishing deadly weapons, a true
personification of the domestic goddess, much feared by mcp's.
Seated on a tree trunk extending over from the bank to the waters of the river
Yamuna, Radha and Krishna gaze adoringly into each others eyes; the same couple
embraces frontally, on a pink, full-blooming lotus amidst a dreamy scenario.
Three visualizations of musical modes (Raginis) - Todi (Wife of Raga Malkounsa);
Vasanti (heralding the arrival of spring) and Madhumaadhavai (all honeyed) and
Radha in the Kishangarh idiom (Bani Thani), further enrich the collection.
Kailash Raj, perhaps India's finest miniaturist, lays bare his awesome talent on
a 11 x 16 inch painted surface. A bearded maharaja (Man Singh of Jodhpur),
stands venerating Durga, with more hands than one can perhaps count. Attending
to her are two adolescent Shivas, popularly known as Bhairavas. The goddess,
seated on a lotus cushion, placed on a throne supported by four golden lions, is
the focal point of the artwork. The whole composition is placed outdoors, with a
distant landscape in perspective and curly clouds in the sky.
With softly applied light hues (nearly in wash), another painting shows Lord
Ganesha holding various weapons in his many arms, supporting his consort at the
left. Both are poised on a lotus, hanging without a support, floating as if in
space; Krishna swinging with Radha; a multitude of women adoring the androgyne
form of Shiva (Ardhanrishvara) and a Jain Tirthankara on a serpent throne,
venerated by two nagas.
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