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RAJA RAVI VARMA
(1848‒1906)
a) Dhruv Narayan (Mahabharata Series)
Chromolithograph with fabric appliqué
24.75 in x 19 in (63 cm x 48.5 cm)
b) Saraswati
Chromolithograph with fabric appliqué
24.75 in x 19 in (63 cm x 48.5 cm)
$1,085 ‒ 1,355
Rs 80,000 ‒ 1,00,000
(Set of two)
These works were published at the Ravi Varma
Press, Malavli, Lonavla
A DHRUV NARAYAN MAHABHARATA SERIES
Lord Vishnu, the sustainer of the universe stands before a meditative
Dhruva in a hilly forest. The blue skinned Vishnu carries his usual attributes,
the disc (
cakra
), conch (
sankha
), club (
gada
) and lotus (
padma
) in his four
arms. He is finely dressed and a number of necklaces and a floral garland
hang from his neck. In direct contrast, Dhruva is seated cross‒legged and
naked with long unkempt hair that covers most of his back. Ravi Varma
is illustrating a particular episode of the
Mahabharata
here about Dhruva
or the pole star. Born to King Uttanapada and Suniti, Dhruva, on being
chided by the king’s second wife Suruchi, Dhruva goes away to the forest at
the age of five, to seek the lord’s blessings. Nothing sways the young boy’s
path and reciting the sacred mantra “Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya”
repeatedly and Vishnu immensely pleased with the boy’s austerity, appears
before him and grants him a boon.
B SARASWATI
Saraswati is the goddess of speech and learning, the inventor of Sanskrit,
patroness of the arts and the wife of Brahma. Four armed, she is shown
seated holding a rosary and a book and playing the veena. A peacock (her
vahana or vehicle) stands to her right.
a
b
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