Rawat Gokul Das and Rawat Nahar Singh of Devgarh at Worship

Object Details

• Artist

  Chokha (active 1779-ca. 1826)

• Label

  This dreamlike painting captures the magical mood of the monsoon and the bhava (emotion) of raga Nand Malhar. At the top, a strip of watery clouds above a wine-dark sky conveys the season of the monsoon (malhar). Beneath the clouds, on a terrace surrounded by lushly flowering trees, three celestial women with multi-colored wings worship a shivalingam. The scene seems suspended in time. Only the clouds, the pond, and the hands of two of the celestial beings, appear to move. On the left, the water in the pond ripples as the bathing nymph (apsara) takes a handful to splash her face. At center, the apsara delicately reaches forward to adorn the lingam with a petal that she has just plucked from a lotus.

  The domed shrine, covered in the dazzling white stucco characteristic of the royal architecture of Udaipur, includes a golden stele (or plaque) that represents Shiva's wife, the goddess Parvati; immediately outside the shrine, a golden icon of Nandi, Shiva's faithful mount, is in his characteristic position of facing his lord.

  The painting can be identified as the fairly obscure raga Nand Malhar because of its similarity to a Kotah painting in the collection of Isabella and Vicky Ducrot, which is inscribed as Raga Nand Malhar. The Ducrot imagery includes a Shiva linga with an icon of Parvati to its left, peris with large wings, and dark monsoon clouds.

• Provenance

  1993

  Unknown British Dealer [1]

  1993

  Unknown private collector, Britain

  2006

  Sale, London, Bonhams,

  From 2006 to 2007

  Shawn Ghassemi

  From 2007 to 2018

  Catherine Glynn Benkaim purchased at auction, April 6, 2006, lot. 458

  From 2018

  Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, partial gift and purchase from Catherine Glynn Benkaim [2]

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Delighting Krishna: Paintings of the Child-God (March 15 to August 24, 2025)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Shariar M. Ghassemi

  Catherine Glynn Benkaim

• Origin

  Udaipur, Rajasthan 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

• On View

  Sackler Gallery 24c: Delighting Krishna: Paintings of the Child-God

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1820s

• Name

  Benkaim, Catherine Glynn, Ghassemi, Shariar M.

• Place

  Udaipur, Rajasthan state, India

• Topic

  South Asian and Himalayan Art, Worship, Art, Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Object Type

  Paintings

• On View

  Yes