THREE PAHADI MINIATURES FROM GULER ILLUSTRATING " GEET GOVIND "

                                                                       

                                                                            (1)
                                                                               

                                                                               (2)
                                                                                

                                                                       (3)

THREE    SRI KRISHNA MINIATURE PAINTINGS    AT  METROPOLITAN   MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK..

All the three paintings  were  on display at MET Museum,  New York when we visited the place .   All the  three paintings belong to Guler , Kangra School and have been done by the  progeny  of Pandit Sieu (Shiv)  Raina . These  have been done during the 18th century. These paintings  have been done to illustrate Vaishnavcharya Jayadev Goswami's ( popularly known as Jayadeva ) poetic  work Geet Govind composed sometime  in the  12th century . Geet Govind is the  story of  the  supreme lover who is also the  original  source of Gyana . It is the story of the  upholder of  justice  known to us  as Sri Krishna. 

Geet Govind ' is a collection of   musical Slokas dedicated to   Sri Krishna ( Govinda )  and Radha .This  romantic lyrical drama  represents the tradition of Vasanta Utsava. 

   If one reads   the  translation of  Geet Govind  , one gets   to know a  different philosophy of universal  love  and  compassion , somewhat    different from what is generally understood by looking at  Geet Govind illustrations in  paintings .

Geet Govind is  very popular in Odisha and Bengal. Perhaps, Indian classical dance is  incomplete without Geet  Govind. Many choreographers and composers of  Kathak, Bharatnayatam, Odisi, Mohininayatam, Kathakali  and Manipuri  have  composed various classical dances based on Geet  Govind .

And poet Sahir Ludhianavi was an admirer of Geet Govind. An English  translation  of Geet Govind was retrieved ( after Sahir's death )  from a Kabadi's  (scrap dealer)  shop that  had  bought his  old  books and papers after a builder purchased Sahir's bungalow . Influence of Geet Govind is reflected in some songs of Sahir especially the songs that he wrote for Hindi Movie Chitralekha.

 I have added lines from verses of Sahir to 2 of the three  uploaded  paintings. ' Maiya mori me Nahin Maakhan Khaayo ' has been written by Surdas .

(1)  

In this painting, child Sri Krishna is shown stealing butter milk . We are sure that he is going to deny having stolen it.  To his mother, he is going to say :

“ Maiya mori me nahin maakhan khaayo

  Bhor  bhayo gaiyyan ke paachhe

Tune madhuban mohi pathaayo

Chaar prahar, bansi bat bhatyo

Saanjh pade me ghar aayo 

Me kab maakhan Khaayo ?“.....Surdas

(2)

In this painting Sri Krishna , Radha  and  Gopis are shown  on the banks of river Yamuna. Radha is silent . Probably she is humming and silently conveying to  her Sakhi   what  she is thinking about Sri Krishna  at the moment .  She could be thinking something like this  :

“  Aaj Sakhi pee daaloongi me 

Darshan jal ki boondh boondh

Me to apne rasik ko nainon mein

 Rakh loongi  palkein  moondh  moondh

Aey ri jaane na doongi “......Sahir

(3)

 In this painting Radha is speaking to her Sakhi  ( female friend ). Radha is conveying  to her something about Sri Krishna . I believe she says :

“ Sakhi ri mora mun uljhe tan dole 

Ab chain mile tab hi jab un se Milan ho le 

Sakhi ri mora mun uljhe tan dole “.....Sahir

( Avtar Mota )

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