This painting from the Mandi school of art depicts an abhisārika nāyika or a forward woman1, who goes out to meet her lover, from an illustration of the Rasikapriya, a text by 16th century poet Keśavadāsa. In the dead of the dark night, she is walking through a forested landscape…

“Peacocks sing in the pure moonlight. Over and over the song echoes in Vṛndāvan; the mountain and all its caves respond — A symphony that brings great bliss; the last watch of the night remains. Nāgarīdās sees Shyāma and Shyāmā during their love-play in their unattainably high loft.” Pad-prasaṅg-mālā 63 …

This series of paintings is from the ‘Impey’ Ramāyaṇa, a series of illustrations to the Ramāyaṇa named after its its patrons, Sir Elijah Impey (1732–1806), the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in Calcutta from 1774–1790, and his wife Lady Mary Impey (1749–1818), a British natural historian. The couple is…

The sculptural art of Kashmir, closely related to that of the adjoining state of Himachal Pradesh, generally shows the combination of Gupta, Pratihāra and Pāla art traditions with perceptible influence from Gandhāra and Central Asia. …

In this unusual symbol-laden painting, an elegant woman, accompanied by a friend, comes to worship a Śiva liṅga placed beneath a tree. She has brought an offering of flowers flowers and holds a small bowl, while her friend offers a garland. A pair of monkeys seated on nearby shrub under…

Nathdwara developed into a sacred town because of Shrinathji, and the entire cultural configuration of Nathdwara revolves around the temple. The main idol of the shrine does not belong to the cultural traditions of this area but was actually brought from Braj in the year 1672 about 640 km away…

This 19th century Paiṭhān painting from Maharastra depicts the event from the Rāmāyaṇa that took place in the Laṅka kāṇḍa of the Rāmcaritmānas. Produced by the Citrakathi caste in Maharastra, the paintings served as illustrative tools for the Citrakathis to narrate the epics in song and verse. The scene depicted…

Within a cavelike niche formed by the billowing, bifurcated tongue of a beautiful kīrtimukha, a cow shelters a Śivaliṅga even as she licks it in adoration. Two heraldic lions stand on their hind legs like sentinels at the bottom of the arch, and several others parade above as if they…

King Bhoja, the most celebrated ruler of the Paramāra Dynasty, was a great patron of education and the arts. At his palace in Dhara (now in Madhya Pradesh), he constructed the Bhojaśāla, an elaborate temple dedicated to poetry and learning. Its central deity was Vāgdevī (goddess of speech), a form…