AN ILLUSTRATION TO AN ASHTA NAYIKA SERIES: THE VIRAHOTKANTHITA NAYIKA
Possibly Kangra or Mandi, Pahari Hills, Northern India, 19th century

Opaque pigments heightened with gold on paper, the vertical composition depicting a typical scene associated with the Virahotkanthita Nayika (“One Distressed by Separation”), a heroine who yearns for her lover to return from a long journey, the nayika portrayed on a palatial terrace under a moonlit sky turmoiled by an approaching storm, golden thunders in the sky, two female attendants going about their domestic duties, in the foreground, a pair of ducks swimming in the pond stressing the lonely condition of the heroine, the scene set within the typical Kangra-style oval medallion framed by a floral border on dark blue ground, white rules and bright red borders, the recto plain, 27.4cm x 20.7cm.