Important Notice

EAST PUNJAB (NOW HARYANA), 20TH CENTURY
Handspun and handwoven cotton, hand embroidered with untwisted silk thread, natural dyes
49 x 90.5 in (125 x 230 cm)


Sainchis were extremely vivid and imaginatively composed with human and geometric figures, birds and animals, floral and vegetal patterns, sacred deities and mythological stories. They brought in scenes from the daily lives of women, such as churning butter or spinning, gathering for a wedding or playing the board game, pachisi. They were also derived from depictions of the veneration of the Mother Goddess Sainchi, whom the women of Haryana and East Punjab revere.

Meticulously composed, the present lot has a central radiating sun motif with peacocks arranged symmetrically around it. Associated with love, peacocks are the sign of a woman's affection for her family, as a devoted wife and mother. Towards the centre, in a scene from the Ramayana, Shravankumar, the devoted son, is shown carrying his blind parents on a pilgrimage.

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