Śakunāvali Series

Illustration from the Sakunāvali (The Mewari Book of Omens) Series: A Lake with Frogs, Udaipur, circa 1720

Śakunāvali, A Garland of Omens, comes from the word Śakuna (शकुन) meaning omen. Śakunas are considered to be harbingers of either good or evil, auspiciousness or inauspiciousness. Andrew Topsfield in Court Painting at Udaipur writes that this Śakunāvali series was a unique commission in Udaipur. It consisted of almost a hundred pages, graded in progressive categories from evil (aśubham; e.g. a burgled house or families of dogs and monkeys) and undesirable (neṣṭa; e.g. a poor man), to good (śubham; e.g. cows in a byre), excellent (sreṣṭha; e.g. a yogi in a hermitage or a king enthroned) and the best of all (uttamam; e.g. winged gaja-siṃhas or a pride of lions). Most of the subjects are drawn from everyday experience and rendered by Udaipur artists through observation. The paintings are probably based on the text of the Bṛhatsaṃhita, that describes the nature and interpretation of omens, and also states that a person learned in the science of omens is able to make predictions taking into account the dik (direction), place, motion, sound, week day, the nakṣatra, the muhūrta, the rising sign, the karaṇa (half a lunar day), etc. of the occurrence or sight.

For example, it is always a good omen if the deer, boar and spotted deer cross the path from the left to the right side; the opposite of it is bad omen. If birds should swarm about houses, places of worship, towers or gates, or if honey-combs or ant-hills or lotus should be found to be formed or to grow in such places, it was believed that there would be misery in the land. In the Agni Purāṇa, it is stated that an inauspicious or an ill omen is destroyed by the praise, worship and invocation of Lord Hari (Viṣṇu).

A folio from the Mewari Śakunāvali depicting a tula (scale) of white marble and red bowls suspended from chains decorated with gold foliate designs. Udaipur, circa 1720;
“Destruction and negative events possible, grief and danger to offspring, [all these] a pair of scales indicate/ an undesirable omen”

A folio from the Mewari Śakunāvali depicting Gajarāja, the King of elephants, Udaipur, circa 1720; “Gajaraja: If an elephant is seen, one will be benefitted by favors including financial gains from the royal court. One will be blessed with a son, and prosperity will be increased by leaps and bounds: an excellent omen”

A folio from the Mewari Śakunāvali depicting hares in a landscape; Udaipur, circa 1720

A folio from the Mewari Śakunāvali depicting hares in a landscape, Udaipur, circa 1720
“For good fortune and financial gains, a progeny is also promised for constant prosperity and foreign travel, pay homage in the direction of the parrots.”

Royal Swans pick pearls from the water’s edge, An illustration from a Sakunavali (Book of Omens) series. Udaipur, 1720; “The attaining of wealth and victory and the gaining of loads of sons, the attaining of fame and glory, [all these] a royal hamsa indicates // 44 //”.

An illustration to the book of dreams, Udaipur, Mewar, Rajasthan, circa 1700–25; with a boar realistically depicted in a leafy landscape

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