This fine example of a narrative nakshi kantha is dated 1925 and depicts scenes from the Mahabharata, Ramayana and folk tales, local traditions and lore. There are 6 panels and a central lotus motif. The kantha can be ‘read’ from top to bottom, right-to-left or in a snacking pattern. There is no clear indication of how it was intended to be perceived but we can deduct that the kantha is split between stories of gods, celestial beings and worldly affairs.
The kantha is framed in triumph – the top panel depicts the return of Ram to Sita after the great battle against Ravana and the bottom one shows the winning boat of a long-boat race. In between is a triptych of courtship – Arjuna shooting the eye of the thrown fish as Drupadhi watches with her father, Kartik mounted on a peacock, and Krishna playing the flute surrounded by ladies.
Next is a great chase of a young, unarmed woman on horseback – perhaps a scene from a battle – which is balanced on the right side by a dancing Shiva, lord of dance, with a band of musicians – an instrumental accompaniment to the drama on the left.
Next is another juxtaposed pair – the scene of Krishna stealing the clothes of four bathing gopis, to be met by his scolding mother and on the other side of the lotus the heavyweights of the pantheon – Vishnu, Laxmi, Brahmo, Ganga and Kali.
The second to last panel shows us the world as we know it. Tales of class, sisterhood, hunger, courtship, quarrelling, milking and finally a line of peaceful beasts.
This is a dramatic kantha – framed in victory in bordered by gateways – it contains the belief that the heavens are linked to the Earth. Here is a fine example of the artist’s ability to express her holistic vision of the world – that of the human and of myths, all existing on one plane. While it is a graphic story it is also imbued with sounds (music, shouts, galloping), smells (fish being cut, flowers), sensations (water, heat), even time (Arjun’s arrow, the horse chase). There is still so muh more to learn and see in this story-laden kantha.
We based our understanding on the description of Parveen Ahmed in ‘The Aesthetics and Vocabulary of Nakshi Kantha‘ (1997), which provides a detailed description of the elements.
