Important Notice

JODHPUR, CIRCA 1820
Inscribed in Nagari at the top
Gouache on paper
Image: 9.25 x 6.25 in (23.4 x 15.8 cm)
Folio: 11.5 x 8.25 in (29.2 x 20.9 cm)

NON-EXPORTABLE REGISTERED ANTIQUITY

PROVENANCE
The Tandan Collection


Jalandarnath, the ascetic portrayed here, was an early leader of the Nath Sampradaya sect. The king of Jodhpur, Raja Man Singh (1803 - 1843) became a devout follower of the Nath sect after its leader Devanath predicted that he would ascend the throne despite insurmountable odds. His prediction came true, and Man Singh looked upon him as his spiritual and political guru. Bulaki, to whom the present lot is attributed, was a Muslim painter appointed to Man Singh's court. He created the Siddha Siddhanta series of paintings and is referred to as the citara musalman in a statement that attributes the twenty-five pages of the Jodhpur folios to him.

Writing about a similar painting, B N Goswamy observes, "The Nath siddha, nimbus surrounding the head, whom we see in this painting-ash-besmeared body, a conical cap on the head, large rings in the ears like those of the kanpatha sect of jogis-is a figure similar to those that appear in other manuscripts. This was the standard rendering for siddhas of that order and one sees the figure, with very minor variations, in large manuscript after manuscript of this period [referring to the reign of Raja Man Singh] from Jodhpur-the Nath Purana, for instance, the Shiva Rahasya, the Shiva Purana." (Goswamy, Close Encounters, p. 271)

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