126-127 / 186
61
RAJA RAVI VARMA
(1848‒1906)
a) Dattatraya
Chromolithograph by Ravi Varma
21.45 x 15.5 in (54.5 x 39.5 cm)
b) Shakuntala Sakhi (Mahabharata Series)
Chromolithograph by Ravi Varma
20.8 x 14.96 in (53 x 38 cm)
$ 545 ‒ 815
Rs 40,000 ‒ 60,000
(Set of two)
These works were published at the Ravi Varma Press,
Malavli, Lonavla
a) Dattatreya stands pensively on a riverbank in a forest. He is
surrounded by four dogs which symbolise the
Vedas
, and a bull
representing Shiva’s
vahana
. Dattatreya is considered to be an
incarnation of the Trimurti‒Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. His three
heads each represent one of the Gods, distinguishable by the tilakas
that mark their heads. He has six hands, in which he carries two
symbolic items from each of the Trimurti, including Shiva’s trident,
Vishnu’s conch and Brahma’s water pot.
b) Portrayed here is a young Shakuntala standing on a forest path
with her companions (
Sakhi
), Anusuya and Priyamvada. Shakuntala
is the daughter of Maharishi Vishwamitra and an
apsara
named
Menaka. Abandoned at birth, the rishi Kanva found her alone in
a forest amidst the
shakunta
singing birds and thus named her
Shakuntala. She grew up in his secluded
ashram
turning into a
comely yet innocent maiden. Her story is told in the
Mahabharata
,
where she goes onto become the wife of Dushyanta and the
mother of Emperor Bharata. Her story is dramatized in a play by
Kalidasa called
Abhijnakuntala
(
The Sign of Shakuntala
).
a
b
126
127