Wednesday, October 9, 2019

ARTIST NAINSUKH PAINTS LOVE AFFAIR OF DANCER AMAL AND MIAN MUKUND DEV OF JASROTA.

                                     

                                        
                                    



MIAN MUKUND DEV  OF JASROTA AND THE DANCER  AMAL ...A MINIATURE  TITLED  'LEISURELY RIDE'  BY NAINSUKH.

(Painting on display at V&T Museum London)

Sometimes I think that so many museums in the world shine bright with art that has traveled from India.  This applies to our paintings ,sculptures ,coins, textiles, manuscripts and other artifacts   .  The master paintings of Nainsukh  are scattered world over. These  can be seen in the   museums of London, Zurich, Horward , New York and other European  or American cities . 

Like Raja Balwant Singh, Mian Mukund Dev from Jasrota has also been a great patron of Nainsukh's Art .  In this master work, Nainsukh  has painted leisurely ride in Vasant season. Two male singers and a lady singer are leading  the leisurly  ride of Mian Mukund Dev (1720-1770 ) of Jasrota kingdom .  While the male singers are busy with singing, Amal is looking back.Amal has a crush on the man( Mian Mukund Dev )  who is following her on the horse.  Amal looks delicate, beautiful and gracious. Every square  centimetre of this miniature can be a painting in itself. A cut portion of the painting  shows Amal with singers. This enables a viewer to appreciate this masterpiece.

The yellow robe of Mukund Dev confirms  Vasant festivities.The lady in this work is identified by the inscription in the upper border of the painting  as singer cum dancer 'Amal'.This painting has also been commented upon by at least four leading art critics of the world. I quote  William Dalrymple:

" In this painting, you can almost hear the male singer Saddu with his lute, can admire the vulnerability and beauty of the lovely dancing girl Amal as she rides swathed in her winter shawl, turning back to catch the eye of Mian Mukund Dev, another of Nainsukh’s patrons; and you can sense the growing intimacy between the two of them."

(Avtar Mota)



PS
Jasrota falls in lower Shivalik  hills . It is located on the banks of river Ujh . Falling in Kathua district of Jammu, this village is about 16 KM's from Kathua town. The village has an old Kali temple and a Shiva temple. The Jasrota Fort lies in ruins and has become a part of Jasrota wild life sanctuary. The rulers of Jasrota were Jamwals, popularly called as the Jasrotias. The ruling family left the fort after Treaty of Amritsar was signed and Gulab Singh  sat on the throne of J&K state. Reportedly the ruling family moved to Khanapur near Nagrota .

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CHINAR SHADE by Avtarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.

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