Comments on: Garden and Cosmos

Garden and Cosmos

adamvasco — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 12:55:55 -0800

A rare glimpse into a forgotten Hindu world.
Garden and Cosmos - The Royal Paintings of Jodhpur. Virtually none of the 60 works on view in "Garden and Cosmos" have ever been published or seen by scholars since their creation centuries ago.
All paintings are from the Mehrangarh museum. ( whose links are also full of interest ).

(After the last days of horror and sadness I thought some Indian goodness was now required).

By: UbuRoivas

UbuRoivas — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 14:00:40 -0800

lovely - i would've seen these in Mehrangarh itself. to add something of interest to the thread, i was particularly blown away by the womens' quarters in the palace/fort, right in the centre. people normally think of zenana (womens' quarters) as a predominantly Muslim thing, but in Mehrangarh there was this tranquil courtyard with rooms & little balconies adjoining, where apparently some women of the royal household (and their attendants) would spend their entire lives, so as not to be exposed to the wily ways of men, other than their husbands, of course. it sounds a bit shitty, but would've been a life of much indulgence & luxury. the miniature paintings often provide delightful little glimpses of that kind of lifestyle.

By: Phanx

Phanx — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 14:08:43 -0800

Amazing. I can't believe the apparently pristine state of preservation. Has there been some restoration work, or is it that they've been carefully stored out of view for a long time?

By: Citizen Premier

Citizen Premier — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 17:17:00 -0800

I was lucky enough to see some Indian paintings at Balboa Park when I was twelve--as far as I know they haven't been back since. I knew very little about Indian theo-mythology and I had only just learned a little about Hinduism, but they did a lot to work up my imagination.

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 20:27:48 -0800

aaahh! So beautiful! Thank you for this gift adamvasco.

By: adamvasco

adamvasco — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 03:10:09 -0800

Ubu: - You might have seen some of these but not all. The article leads me to believe that the majority of these have not been exhibited before. There are however many similar paintings on show in the Mehrangarh museum as I discovered to my delight earlier this year. Phanx: I am no expert but I believe that the fact that Jodhpur is semi desert with very low annual humidity is probably the answer here.