indian art - miniatures - archecticture - vedic philosophy
 
 
   

 
Classical - Mewari - Gita-Govinda - Series Two
 
Plate 23 - "Tvamasi... udyama jugata ku."  

 

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The poetry is beautiful, Krsna cries out tenderly:
"You are my ornament, my life
You are my jewel in the sea of existence
Be yielding to me forever
My heart fervently pleads."


The artist repeats the refrain of Radha sitting inside the bower with her palm resting on the ground and the group of Krsna, sakhi and Kamadeva watching. A slightly distantly placed is also the empty bower. Two pairs of Radha and Krsna are portrayed - one inside an arched bower, and another on the banks of the Jamuna. The two are diagonally placed. A central banana tree and a mango tree frame the central arched bower. Lotuses and shrubs as the motifs of the flame of passion are repeated in the floral decoration.
 
Indian miniature painting presents an analogous phenomenon. Once the principles of balancing of forms and a special type perspective along with pictorial motifs evolved and were firmly established, they could be competently repeated. A comparison of the paintings of Set I based on the verses of the Gita-Govinda and Set II underscores this aspect of the Indian artistic traditions. The four sets of the Gita-Govinda in the Udaipur State Museum present an excellent example of this inbuilt range of possibilities of interpretations.