Museum objects, artifacts, and archival items from the Sarmaya collection.
A composition where a female figure on the left, likely signifying Maya or Illusion, lays out her colourful veil to be viewed by three men of religion on the right. Two of them seem to be Buddhist monks, and one seated figure has a sage-like appearance. The iconography is inspired by the various folk and… Read more »
Figure of a woman masturbating on a decorated surface. Souza believed that art offered the only respite for man, who would die of boredom in the absence of it. His works betray this sentiment; every piece of his artistic repertoire is charged with his lived moments, every piece portrays an overflowing passion. Brought up in… Read more »
An artist’s interpretation of Kukkuta Jataka, a tale from the Buddhist Jataka fables inspired by the life of Gautama. In Kukkuta Jataka, Gautama takes life as a rooster. A cat that wants to eat the bird offers to become his wife first. The plot fails, and the bird is later revealed to be a Bodhisattva.… Read more »
A pencil sketch of pietà, the Italian word for ‘pity’ that refers to the Biblical episode where Mary cradles the head of her dead son, Jesus. The artist’s work here is inspired to a large extent by the Pietà, a 15th-century marble sculpture by Michelangelo Buonarroti. A distraught Mary sits with the limp body of… Read more »
The work deals with the theme of crucifixion. There is a central figure on a cross and other figures are gathered around, perhaps representing the mourners. Rudimentary architectural elements can be seen in the background. KG Subramanyan was actively involved in the freedom struggle and was known for his Gandhian ideology. His visit to Santiniketan… Read more »
A sketch depicting a man in a cloak with an outstretched right arm. Another figure kneels before the standing figure, perhaps as a gesture of reverence. This work is very likely Biblical in its theme. Krishen Khanna was born in pre-partition Punjab and moved to Bombay to work as a banker. Art had been a… Read more »
Mithila or Madhubani art originated as a ritual wall painting in Mithila region, primarily done on the occasion of marriage. Traditionally, it has been a woman’s preserve. With modern times the medium of art shifted to canvas, and on rare occasions to cloth. Depicted here is one of the most popular and iconic of these… Read more »
This is a figure used in Tholu Bommalaata performances, Andhra’s shadow-puppetry tradition. The figure here is a hybrid with the head of a dog, complete with a leash around the neck, and the limbs and the lower body of a tiger or a lion. Except for the more recognisable forms, say of gods and goddesses,… Read more »
A raas leela pichwai of Shrinathji on a full moon night. At the top of the frame, the moon is prominently displayed along with a clear star-speckled sky. Outside among the banana and mango trees, Shrinathji plays the raas leela with his gopis. Multiple forms of Krishna are found among the gopis, holding hands and… Read more »
Vahanvati Mata is one of the folk goddesses, worshipped by the Vaghri community of Gujarat. She is iconographically represented as sitting on a goat, which in turn is placed inside a ship. She is primarily a goddess that protects travellers and merchants crossing the seas. In this Pachedi, the goddess is represented with eight hands… Read more »
Shrinathji is the presiding deity of the Vaishnava sect called the Pushtimarg, and his worship is centred in the temple at Nathdwara in Rajasthan. He is an incarnation of Krishna as a seven-year-old boy; the iconography seen in this pichwai is the classic characterisation of the deity. Pichwais are textile embroideries or paintings that were… Read more »
A jatri poti or jatra patta is essentially a pilgrimage scroll that a devotee brings back with him as a souvenir that also acts as a mobile shrine for anyone unable to visit the original site. This particular patta is of Lord Jagannatha, an incarnation of Vishnu, with his worship centered in the Jagannatha temple… Read more »
A talapattachitra (incised palm leaf manuscript) detailing episodes from the Ramayana and the life of Krishna. Prominent panels include the Rama-Durbar (court of Rama), the war in Lanka, Krishna playing his flute as a cowherd and Kaliya-daman, among others. Smaller roundels depicting smaller episodes from the stories cover up the rest of the space.
This painting is an interpretation, Jesus prays to his father on the night before his crucifixion. The artist Manish Soni has employed a distinctive Hamzanama trope to convey the intensity and pathos of this scene.
This folio titled ‘Raising of Lazarus’ is a part of the Issanama series. The Issanama commission lies at the intersection of art and history, and offers lush evidence of the plurality and syncretism inherent in Indian culture. It’s an artistic collaboration between the founder of Sarmaya, Paul Abraham and traditional miniaturist and third-generation artist, Manish… Read more »
This folio titled ‘Calming the Storm III’ is a part of the Issanama series. The Issanama commission lies at the intersection of art and history, and offers lush evidence of the plurality and syncretism inherent in Indian culture. It’s an artistic collaboration between the founder of Sarmaya, Paul Abraham and traditional miniaturist and third-generation artist, Manish… Read more »
This folio titled ‘Calming the Storm II’ is a part of the Issanama series. The Issanama commission lies at the intersection of art and history, and offers lush evidence of the plurality and syncretism inherent in Indian culture. It’s an artistic collaboration between the founder of Sarmaya, Paul Abraham and traditional miniaturist and third-generation artist, Manish… Read more »
This folio titled ‘Calming the Storm I’ is a part of the Issanama series. The Issanama commission lies at the intersection of art and history, and offers lush evidence of the plurality and syncretism inherent in Indian culture. It’s an artistic collaboration between the founder of Sarmaya, Paul Abraham and traditional miniaturist and third-generation artist, Manish… Read more »
This intricately detailed triptych tells the story of Jesus calming the storm. The first of the panels, Jesus stands at the bank of the river, pointing towards the boat which will take him and his disciples to the island where they can rest.
This folio titled ‘The Temptation of Christ’ is a part of the Issanama series. The Issanama commission lies at the intersection of art and history, and offers lush evidence of the plurality and syncretism inherent in Indian culture. It’s an artistic collaboration between the founder of Sarmaya, Paul Abraham and traditional miniaturist and third-generation artist,… Read more »