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3238 W
A PICCHVAI OF THE HAVELI OF SHRI NATHJI
DURING THE ANNAKUT FESTIVAL
NATHDWARA, LATE 19TH CENTURY
Opaque watercolor on cotton.
54 1/4 x 58 1/4 in. (138 x 148 cm)

$60,000 - 80,000
Set within a backdrop of dry and verdant rolling hills, pink and mint green rock faces,
the banks of the Banas river, and arboreal ensembles that mimic excited peacocks
stands the haveli (or mansion) of Shri Nathji: the court of the divine child-king Krishna at
Nathdwara in Rajasthan.

This vast complex is the chief pilgrimage site of its devoted sect, founded by Saint
Vallabhacharya around 1500, and seen here preparing for its most important annual
festival, Annakut. At the center of the palace, a herd of hennaed and hand-printed cows
can be seen arranged below a pile of cow dung and plantain trees, meant as a symbolic
representation of Mount Govardhana for them to tread on, recalling by ritual a key myth
expressing Krishna’s supremacy as a deity.

The picchvai, with the complex’s asymmetrical, labyrinthine network of interlocking
courtyards, corridors, shrines, apartments, and antechambers, is one of the largest
and best examples illustrating the much amusing and beguiling approach by the Indian
painter towards architectural perspective, attempting to simultaneously merge competing
views from directly above, whilst also giving a sense of each building’s scale and
elevation from the side.

The sacred complex of Shri Nathji does not resemble a typical Hindu temple, possibly so
as to disguise from unwanted attention during Muslim invasions and persecutions in the
region, but more likely because of the Vallabhacharya’s emphasis on seva (or service),
which is to treat images of Krishna like a royal personage. By way of attributing a date,
the inclusion of the Moti Mahal, with its large guarded exterior gate in the bottom left
corner and inner courtyard of plentiful trees near the upper left, indicates the picchvai
was obviously painted sometime after it was built in 1861.

Such picchvais that show the entire scared complex arranged for one of the many
festivals were painted for pilgrims to take home in remembrance of their spiritual
encounters with divinity. A closely related example of the same subject was offered by
Christie’s, New York, 16 September 2008, lot 488. Another smaller and later version
on paper in the Ambalal Collection is published in Ghose, Gates of the Lord, Hong
Kong, 2015, p.76-7, no.13. Lastly, a version in miniature format on paper was sold at
Sotheby’s, London, 4 April 1978, lot 316.

Published
Jerry Losty and Francesca Galloway, Sringar: An Exhibition Celebrating Divine and Erotic
Love, London, 2007, p.73, no.28.
Simon Ray Ltd, Indian & Islamic Art, London, 2008, no.90.

Provenance
Francesca Galloway Ltd, London, 2007
Simon Ray Ltd, London, 3 November 2008

114 | BONHAMS