The Mahabharata: Mewari Miniature Paintings (1680–1698) by Allah Baksh Volumes I-IV [9788196405359]

Overview

This four-volume set has nearly 2000 paintings by Allah Baksh of Vyasa’s epic, the Mahabharata, Hindi translation of the Mewari text, English translation and commentary

Allah Baksh’s magnificent miniature paintings of Vyasa’s great epic, The Mahabharata, were commissioned by Udaipur’s Maharana Jai Singh, and painted between 1680 and 1698. The selection of nearly 2000 paintings, published in four volumes, are from a folio of more than 4000 extant works illuminating the Mahabharata. The fifth volume of 500 paintings devoted to the Gita, has already been published.

These radiant miniatures, which follow almost every story in every chapter of the Mahabharata, have no precedent in India’s art tradition. The emphasis in these paintings is not on heroic posturing and spiritual pride, but on the pain that the earth and its creatures endure when human beings tragically fail to fulfill their dharma. The images in the paintings are symbolically charged, their colors are clear and luminous, their lines are restrained and precise. Allah Baksh’s art of visionary thoughtfulness deserves an honored place in the great library of Indian scriptures and their visual interpretations.

Introductions to the parvas illuminated in these four volumes offer reflections on the moral resonance of the stories, as they reveal the fate of a civilization from its divine beginning to its fateful destruction. The Hindi translation of the Mewari text in the colophons, describing the story being illustrated, furthers our understanding of the history of cultural exchange between the different religions, regions and languages of India. Comments on the paintings in English enable the reader to decode the images and follow the narrative grandeur of this great Indian epic.

The book, The Mahabharata: Mewari Miniature Paintings (1680–1698) by Allah Baksh Volumes I-IV [Bulk, Wholesale, Quantity] ISBN#9788196405359 in Hardcover by Alok Bhalla, Chandra Prakash Deval may be ordered in bulk quantities. Minimum starts at 25 copies. Availability based on publisher status and quantity being ordered.