The Mahabharata [4 Vols. set] : Mewari miniature paintings (1680-1698) by Allah Baksh
By: Bhalla, Alok.
Contributor(s): Deval, Chandra Prakash.
Publisher: New Delhi Niyogi Books 2023Description: 4v. various pagings.ISBN: 9789391125660 (v.1), 9789391125714 (v.2) , 9789391125738 (v.3), 9789391125721 (v.4).Subject(s): Mahābhārata -- Illustrations | Painting, Mewari -- India -- Udaipur -- 17th century | Miniature painting, IndicDDC classification: 745.67 | B469m| Item type | Current location | Collection | Call number | Vol info | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds |
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PK Kelkar Library, IIT Kanpur | On Display | 745.67 B469m v.1 (Browse shelf) | v.1. Adi parva Sabha parva, 434p, 9789391125660 | Available | A186764 | ||
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PK Kelkar Library, IIT Kanpur | On Display | 745.67 B469m v.2 (Browse shelf) | v.2. Vana parva Virata parva, 507p, 9789391125714 | Available | A186765 | ||
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PK Kelkar Library, IIT Kanpur | On Display | 745.67 B469m v.3 (Browse shelf) | v.3. Udyoga parva, Bhishma parva, Drona parva, Salya parva, Gada parva, 531p, 9789391125738 | Available | A186766 | ||
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PK Kelkar Library, IIT Kanpur | On Display | 745.67 B469m v.4 (Browse shelf) | v.4. Rajadharma parva, Ashwamedha parva, Ashramavasika parva, Mausala parva, Mahaprasthana parva, 520p, 9789391125721 | Available | A186767 |
Browsing PK Kelkar Library, IIT Kanpur Shelves , Collection code: On Display Close shelf browser
| 745.67 B469m v.1 The Mahabharata [4 Vols. set] | 745.67 B469m v.2 The Mahabharata [4 Vols. set] | 745.67 B469m v.3 The Mahabharata [4 Vols. set] | 745.67 B469m v.4 The Mahabharata [4 Vols. set] | 791.430917 H184a Arab world cinemas | 791.437 R137j John-Ghatak-Tarkovsky | 791.4375 In4m Marathi cinema, cultural space, and liminality |
Contents: v.1. Adi parva Sabha parva, 434p, 9789391125660, v.2. Vana parva Virata parva, 507p, 9789391125714, v.3. Udyoga parva, Bhishma parva, Drona parva, Salya parva, Gada parva, 531p, 9789391125738, v.4. Rajadharma parva, Ashwamedha parva, Ashramavasika parva, Mausala parva, Mahaprasthana parva, 520p, 9789391125721
Allah Baksh’s magnificent miniature paintings of Vyasa’s great epic, the Mahabharata, were commissioned by Udaipur’s Maharana Jai Singh, and painted between 1680 and 1698. The selection of nearly 2000 paintings, published in four volumes, are from a folio of more than 4000 extant works illuminating the Mahabharata. The fifth volume of 500 paintings devoted to the Gita, has already been published.
These radiant miniatures, which follow almost every story in every chapter of the Mahabharata, have no precedent in India’s art tradition. The emphasis in these paintings is not on heroic posturing and spiritual pride, but on the pain that the earth and its creatures endure when human beings tragically fail to fulfil their dharma. The images in the paintings are symbolically charged, their colours are clear and luminous, their lines are restrained and precise. Allah Baksh’s art of visionary thoughtfulness deserves an honoured place in the great library of Indian scriptures and their visual interpretations. Introductions to the parvas illuminated in these four volumes offer reflections on the moral resonance of the stories, as they reveal the fate of a civilisation from its divine beginning to its fateful destruction. The Hindi translation of the Mewari text in the colophons, describing the story being illustrated, furthers our understanding of the history of cultural exchange between the different religions, regions and languages of India. Comments on the paintings in English enable the reader to decode the images and follow the narrative grandeur of this great Indian epic.
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