Page 138 - Eye of the beholder
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her to meet Krishna even if the hour is inauspicious. In front of her are rendered certain elements, which provides clue to her love condition as the delineation of flowers, paan and a vessel containing sandalwood paste, carrying symbolic meaning. Radha is admonishing her sakhi to keep away from her the flowers as they are like thorns without her Hari, don’t rub sandalwood paste, as its coolness turns to fever and no paan either as it tastes like poison. This, despite the fact that it was her decision not to meet Krishna at an inauspicious hour; while Krishna seated in another pavilion is eager to meet her as indicated by the gestures of her Sakhis and Krishna in a dilemma of Radha’s refusal. Similar symbolic elements finds placement with Krishna too with garland of flowers, sandalwood paste and the paan. Garland nevertheless translated to a snake in her absence.
Aesthetically the compositional structure of painting is designed to contain two pavilions where the hero and heroine are placed. The pavilion where Radha is shown seated on a thick white mattress placed directly on the floor, which incidentally is painted grey with red floral motif contained in yellow outlined cartouche, is a one storied structure and opens out into a garden that is divided into four sections. The ground floor has a room, the entrance of which is marked by a rolled up curtain. This room is fronted by a verandah with pillars, which carried a chajja and a parapet above. This ground floor portion has been interestingly rendered with interesting details. The exterior wall of the room has a niche flanking it on either side. The niche on the right has decorative containers and an elegant flask rendered in white and yellow respectively. The upper portion of the niche has projections on the right and left that appear in the shape of bird heads. Over this is placed a rod which ends in white knobs. The projection on the right has a yellow odhini, hung from it. The niche on the left is similarly designed but it contains two elegant and elongated white flasks. From the rod hang two diaphanous materials in white and yellow. The pillars of the verandah are made of marble with a decorative base and a capital that is precisely outlined with a floral motif in grey. The upper section of the chajja is painted yellow ochre.
The upper storey is an open terrace, the entrance to it is provided by a large doorway which carries an elaborate multi cusped arch, above which is a semi circular chajja, over which is a parapet following the outlines of the chajja below and is crowned by a dome, the finial of which protrudes into the band that carries the written script. On either side of the dome are two circular forms as well as a tiger’s head. These appear to be the insignia of the ruling Rajput dynasty. The semi circular chajja has resonance to the marble pavilion in Agra Fort constructed by Shah Jahan, with its influence derived from Bengal. This doorway is flanked on either side by two heavily grilled windows. This terrace is surrounded on three sides by a marble parapet, which carries floral motifs outlined in grey, while the fourth side overlooking the open courtyard below has no such protection. The parapet wall carried above the chajja, and which is at a level of the floor of the terrace, and painted bright red carries delicate and ornamental merlons forms developed as a trefoil that has been rendered in grey outlines.
The pavilion next to where Radha is seated is again a one storied structure. In the upper section on an open terrace made of marble, Krishna is seated with two gopis. The pavilion is carried on pillars with a chajja and a parapet. The pillars are painted green, the chajja in yellow and the wall behind in bright red.