A Prince Performs Austerities (recto); Shiva and His Followers Return to Mount Kailash (verso), from a Romance of Chandrabhanu and Lavanyavati of Upendra Bhanja (1670–1740)
1700s
Maker Unknown
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
A Prince Performs Austerities (recto); Shiva and His Followers Return to Mount Kailash (verso), from a Romance of Chandrabhanu and Lavanyavati of Upendra Bhanja (1670–1740), 1700s. Eastern India, Odisha (formerly Orissa). Gum tempera and lampblack on palm leaf; leaf: 5.1 x 41 cm (2 x 16 1/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2018.175 In this illustration from the beginning of a popular romance, a prince performed intense austerities and devotions to the Shiva linga in order to obtain a divine woman. He practices yoga surrounded by fires during the hot season and wanders unsheltered during monsoon, as seen on the recto. On the verso, Shiva has answered his prayers and returns home to his "cave on Mount Kailash," as stated in the inscription. There is a three-legged yogi on the verso.
- Maker/Artist
- Maker Unknown
- Classification
- Painting
- Formatted Medium
- gum tempera and lampblack on palm leaf
- Dimensions
- Leaf: 5.1 x 41 cm (2 x 16 1/8 in.)
- Inscribed
- Inscription: kailasakandara Translation: A cave in Kailasa Remark: On the verso, next to the mountain Inscription: 1 Translation: Page one Remark: The number is in the left margin. A number 4 has been scrtched out above the number one; either way this was an early folio in the manuscript, either the first or the fourth. Inscription: e pancagni gartta acchi Translation: This is the five fire pit. Inscription: e rajāpua tapasā kari sivapūjā kari acchi Translation: The prince, having performed austerities, worships Shiva. Remark: on the recto Inscription: agni jalum accchi Translation: Fire is blazing. Remark: On the recto, at the top, right, incised in Oriya
- Departments
- Indian and Southeast Asian Art
- Accession Number
- 2018.175
- Credit Line
- Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund
- Rights Statement
- CC0
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