Shiva and Parvati on a tiger skin: Anakūl Nayaka folio from a Rasamanjari

Object Details

• Artist

  Attributed to Golu, son of Devidasa

• School/Tradition

  Nurpur school

• Description

  Close to the image are two thin black lines framing the image. Against a red background, on the left, Shiva walks with Parvati past a large tree. On the right, the couple lie down on a tiger skin. Yellow border.

• Inscriptions

  Verso: takri number 1; in takri “anakūla=favorable, compatible, agreeable”

• Label

  Invoking the blessings of Shiva, this is the opening page of the Rasamanjari series of c. 1710-15, which was painted at the workshop of Golu, an artist of Nurpur, in the first quarter of the eighteenth century. The Rasamanjari (Bouquet of Rasa) is a poetic classification of lovers (nayakas and nayikas) and love situations. Composed ca. 1500 by Maithili Brahmin Bhanudatta, probably in Ahmednagar, Deccan, its Sanskrit verses had a significant impact on Hindu court painting and the development of the Hindi literary tradition (ritikal).

  Shiva is personified here as the anakūl nayaka or the lover devoted solely to his beloved, here, his wife Parvati. Bhanudatta's verse relates the tender actions of a smitten lover:

  "He [Shiva] looks at the uneven ground, first hesitates, [then] extends his foot. Roaming about in the forest, he plucks wild flowers with his raised right hand. Relaxed in the comfort of his bed [covered with] a tiger's pelt, he presses his beloved to his body's side. In this manner Shiva fully enjoys the pleasure and causes Parvati's side to gracefully tremble."

  The divine couple appears twice in the painting, once standing near a large tree picking flowers and again lying down on a tiger skin. Concerned and caring, Shiva takes on himself whatever involves effort and fatigue. He puts his right step forward to check the uneven ground for Parvati and sleeps with the weight of his body to the right.

• Provenance

  Collection of the Raja of Lambragaon, Himachal Pradesh, India.

  To 1967

  Sona Gallery, New York, New York. [1]

  From 1967 to 2001

  Ralph Benkaim (1914-2001), Beverly Hills, California, purchased from Sona Gallery in New York City in June, 1967. [2]

  From 2001 to 2018

  Catherine Glynn Benkaim, Beverly Hills, California, by inheritance from Ralph Benkaim in 2001. [3]

  From 2018

  Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, partial gift and purchase from Catherine Glynn Benkaim. [4]

  Notes:

  [1] Ralph Benkaim purchased the painting in 1967 from Sona Gallery in New York City, several years before Indian paintings were classified as antiquities by the Indian government, according to his personal records via Catherine Glynn Benkaim. Sona Gallery did not produce a publication.

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] See Acquisition Consideration Form, object file, Collections Management Office.

  [4] See note 3.

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Wonder of the Age: Painters of India (September 28, 2011 to January 8, 2012)

  Masters of Indian Painting (April 28, 2011 to January 8, 2012)

  Gods and Demons (2000 to 2001)

  Painting in the Punjab Hills (1999-2000)

  Selections for the Opening of The Florence and Herbert Irving Galleries (1994)

  Art of the Indian Subcontinent from Los Angeles Collections (March 4 to March 31, 1968)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Raja of Lambagraon

  Sona Gallery (American)

  Ralph and Catherine Benkaim

  Catherine Glynn Benkaim

• Origin

  Nurpur, Himachal Pradesh state, India

• Credit Line

  Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection — funds provided by the Friends of the National Museum of Asian Art

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1700s, 1720s

• Name

  Benkaim, Ralph and Catherine, Benkaim, Catherine Glynn, Sona Gallery, Lambragaon

• Place

  Nurpur, Himachal Pradesh state, India

• Topic

  South Asian and Himalayan Art, Art, Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection, Parvati, Shiva, Tiger

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Object Type

  Paintings