VALLABHACHARYA DISCOVERING SRI NATHJI AT THE GOVARDHAN HILL
INDIA, RAJASTHAN, KOTAH, CIRCA 1830
Estimate: £1,500 - £2,000
Auction: 11 June 2025 from 10:00 BST
Description
gouache on paper heightened in gold, depicting Sri nathji and Vallabhcharya with a green and gold halo embracing one another within a mountainous landscape, a group of sacred Nandi cows above them, two onlookers draped with jewellery to the left pointing out the scene, the empty white temple to the right, a row of male worshippers dressed in loincloths to the left, a row of noble worshippers to the right with offerings, a village landscape scene below, mounted, glazed and framed
Dimensions
33.9cm x 25.6cm
Footnote
This painting and the next lot depict the first encounter between Krishna, the cowherd god, and Vallabhacharya, the mystic who founded the Sri Nath-ji cult. In 1493, Vallabhacharya visited Mathura, Krishna's home and following this pilgrimage built a shrine at Mount Govardhan, in 1670 the shrine, being under threat from the Mughal ruler Alamgir (r. 1658-1707) was taken to Northwest to Rajasthan to Nathdwara, twenty five miles north of Udaipur.
Dauj II (1797-1826), a priest and son of the priest Girdharji, stimulated life around the Nathdwara temple devoted to Sri Nathji. He built gardens and palaces with a school of painting. Mahararao Kishor Singh (r. 1819-1827) was a devout Vishnava devotee and Dauji II initiated the ruler into the devotion of Vallabha Sampradaya. Dauji II also gave the ruler refuge at Nathdwara in 1821 when he was exiled from his kingdom for three months by the British. There was a likely interaction between Nathdwara and Kotah during this period.
For further discussion and comparisons see: S.C.Welch (ed.), J.K. Bautze, C.W. Bowen, N. Peabody and W.Taylor, Gods, Kings and Tigers, New York, 1997, pp. 184-201, and; J.Seyller (ed.) , M.C. Beach, C.Glynn, J.Mittal and A.Topsfield, Rajasthani Paintings in the Jagdish and Kamla Mittal Museum of Indian Art, Hyderabad, 2015, pp. 146-155, and; J. Williams, Kingdom of the Sun, Indian Court and Village Art from the princely state of Mewar, San Francisco, 2007, no. 54.