Page 192 - Eye of the beholder

longing, was the constant subject, while the whole function of incidental objects was to match the state of hearts. Clouds, rains, trees, pitchers, flowers and turrets were all introduced as poetic symbols.
The cult of Krishna had a special fascination for Raja Sansar Chand. In the Rajput society into which he was born, ladies were kept in careful seclusion, chastity was prized and the only licit channels for sexual expression were the negotiated bride or the arranged concubine. Romance in the usual sense of the term was impossible. In Rajput society this found a catharsis in the cult and poetry of Krishna. This cult had its importance from its lack of all connectivity with ordinary life. To Sansar Chand, the cult was evident of quite exceptional significance and his art in some mysterious way was connected with his attitude to sex. Certainly his delight in the cult of Krishna seems related to his own romances. His sensibility expressed itself not only in art and poetry but in certain sexual romanticism, for while in Rajput society the cult of Krishna must have been a substitute gratification, and for Sansar Chand it may also have served as a validating sanction, perhaps even as a complement to his private experiences. Hence the two qualities which characterized Sansar Chand when he succeeded to the Kangra court was a flair for painting and a zest for Krishna.
“Krishna and Radha Engaged in a Discourse in a Pavilion” belonging to Kangra or Mandi and is dated 1830. The provenance appears to be Mandi than Kangra from its representation of the landscape as well as the line in the rendering of the figurative forms. There is of course no scholarly basis to establish it. Mandi, which in Hindi means market is a large state situated in the middle of Beas valley, perhaps alluding to the town’s position as a centre of trade between Central Asia and the Punjab plains. The miniature is from a centre as Mandi, characterized by strong graceful flowing elegant lines in the contours of the figures with beautiful and charming faces. The compositional peg is the sensitivity and the lyrical charm in the use of line as seen in the best paintings from the Kangra kalam.
The setting of the painting is an open terrace, with jali marble parapet enclosing it, and a raised platform where the two protagonists namely Krishna and Radha are playing out their momentous sentiments. The surface of the platform is pure white marble while the sides are decorated with floral motifs in vertical stripes in green and yellow.
The floor has an intricate inlay or perhaps painted design with a lemon yellow background interspersed with green and red flowers and a stylized leaf motif providing the connecting link. Next to the raised platform is a projecting sit out with the same floor decoration and protected
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