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Jayadeva's poem, Gita Govinda, made a tremendous impact on posterity, inspiring millions of people with sincere expressions of divine love. Birbhum became the fountain spring of the songs of Vaishnavas. A few centuries after him Chandi Das (1420) sang his enchanting songs from the village Nannur in the same district. Vidyapati (1400-1470), the Maithila poet, wrote poems of matchless beauty on Radha's love for Krishna. Shiv Singh, the Raja of Mithila, conferred the title of 'Abhinava Jayadeva' (a new Jayadeva), on Vidyapati. This shows the high esteem in which Jayadeva was held by both Vidyapati and his royal patron. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486-1534), was so fond of the Gita Govinda that He heard its recital every day, and the music of samkirtana parties enchanted the masses of Bengal and Orissa.
Ultimately the Gita Govinda found visual expression in painting which developed in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and the Punjab Hills. The earliest illustrations of the Gita Govinda were painted in Gujarat about 1450. A series of the Gita Govinda paintings were painted in 1590 at Jaunpur, in eastern Uttar Pradesh, and are now in the Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay. Akbar was an enthusiast in the mystic poetry of Jayadeva. In 1615, during Akbar's reign, a manuscript of the Gita Govinda was produced and illustrated with paintings in Mughal style, thus showing that people of all creeds were enchanted with Jayadeva's song. It is said that "a Mughal on hearing of divine honors paid to the work, used to peruse it with the greatest delight. One day while riding, he was singing its verses, and fell into divine ecstasy."
A wave of Vaishnavism spread in Rajasthan in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and along with the worship of Krishna the song of Jayadeva also became popular. There is an imaginary painting of Jayadeva with five other poets in the Khajanchi collection, painted in the primitive Chaurapanchasika style, which has been dated c. 1580. In c. 1610 the Gita Govinda was painted in Western Rajasthan in the mellowed and modified Jaina style. A large series of paintings of the poem were painted in Mewar in 1723 under the patronage of Maharana Samgram Singh II (1710-1734), which are now in Sarasvatii Bhandar, Udaipur. An artist of Kishangarh painted a delightful series of paintings of the Gita Govinda in 1820 for Raja Kalayan Singh, which are in the collection of the present Raja. The songs of Jayadeva were also sung on the festivals of Krishna in Rajasthan.
At Basohli in the Jammu Hills the Gita Govinda was rendered in a series of paintings in 1730 during the rule of Raja Medini Pal. The paintings of this series are in the Central Museum of Lahore, the Punjab Museum of Chandigarh, the National Museum of New Delhi, and with some private collectors. However, the supreme expression of the beautiful theme of the Gita Govinda is found in a series of paintings, now in the possession of Maharaja Manvindra Shah of Tehri-Garhwal, some of which are in the collection of the late N. C. Mehta - to whom we owe their discovery. Who was the artist and where were they painted? - in Garhwal or in the Kangra Valley?
In 1926 N. C. Mehta, found them in the collection of Maharaja Narendra Shah of Tehri-Garhwal. Mehta and published two paintings of the series in his Studies in Indian Painting, in a chapter entitled, "The Court Art of Tehri-Garhwal." From the fact that he found these paintings in the collection of the Maharaja of Garhwal he concluded that they were painted in Garhwal. Later research has shown that the collections of paintings with the rulers of the Hill States are mixed, and pictures painted in one State are often found in another State. On the occasions of marriages, paintings were often taken by brides to their new homes. In fact, in settling the provenance of a painting, inscriptions, style, and landscape provide more reliable clues. The colophon of the Gita Govinda paintings has a circular painting of Radha and Krishna seated on a terrace in a garden. On the top of the painting is an inscription in Sanskrit inscribed in golden letters against a background of blue. It was translated by Dr. Raghu Vira, a well known Sanskrit scholar. The inscription and translation provided by him reads:
muni-vasu-giri-somaih sammite vikramabde
guni-ganita-garishtha malini-vritta-vitta
vyarachayad
- caused to be composed by
aja-bhakta
- the devotee of Aja
manaku
- through Manaki
chitrakartra
- the artist
vichitram
- characterized by
lalita
- a delicate
lipi
- brush
gita-govinda-chitram
- the painting of the Gita Govinda
"In the year corresponding to the moon, the mountains, the gems, and the sages of Vikrama Samvat (i.e. 1787), a devotee of Aja caused this painting of the Gita Govinda, characterized by a delicate brush, to be painted by Manaku, the artist."
Who was this Manaku or Manak? Was he a Garhwal or Kangra artist? Among the portraits of the artists of the Kangra School, there is one, of Manak. Manak is described as the elder son of Seu, and his portrait is now available in the Punjab Museum of Chandigarh. On the top of his portrait he is described as Manaku Musawar while below his portrait in a corner an inscription in Devanagari. It reads: Seu da putar bara Manak, Chhota Nainsukh. Manak has a sensitive face, aquiline nose and a beard trimmed in Mughal style. Nainsukh, his younger brother, was painting for Raja Baalwant Singh of Jammu in 1750. It seems that Manak migrated to Guler where he worked for Raja Govardhan Chand (1744-1773) and later, for his successor Prakash Chand (1773-1790).
From Guler he appears to have gone to the court of Maharaja Sansar Chand at Tira-Sujanpur about 1790 when the affairs of Guler State deteriorated during the rule of Prakash Chand. It seems that these Gita Govinda paintings were very likely painted by him during the period 1790-1805 under the patronage of Sansar Chand when he was at the height of his glory. During this period he resided mostly at Tira-Sujanpur. The inscription mentioned above is an exact copy of an earlier inscription on the colophon of Basohli paintings of the Gita Govinda. It seems that there were two different artists with the name of Manak, one who flourished about 1730 and painted the Gita Govinda paintings in Basohli style, and another who flourished about A.D. 1790-1805, and painted the Gita Govinda paintings in Kangra style.
Apart from the landscape and buildings shown in these paintings, which remind us of Tira-Sujanpur and the river Beas, the paintings also have an inscription in Devanagari in the dialect of Punjabi - current in Kangra, in which a translation of the Sanskrit verses of the poem is provided. This is indubitable proof that they were painted in the Kangra Valley and not in Garhwal.
Sansar Chand of Kangra
The work of the artist of the Gita Govinda paintings must be seen against its historical, cultural and social setting, and in connection with the ideas from which sprang the urge to create. Who was the devotee of Vishnu for whom Manak, the artist, painted the pictures of the Gita Govinda ? It could be no other than Maharaja Sansar Chand of Kangra, the greatest patron of painting in the Punjab Hills. Sansar Chand was born in 1766 at Bijapur, a village about six miles from Lambagraonn in Palampur Tehsil of the Kangra District. The Katoch dynasty which he headed is of enormous antiquity, and Susarman, their ancient ancestor was the ally of the Kauravas of the Mahabharata. The original seat of the family is said to have been at Multan. After the Great Battle at Kurukshetra they lost their lands in Multan, and retired to the District Jalandhara and built the fort of Kangra.
At the beginning of the eleventh century, the kingdom of Jalandharaa or Trigarta, comprised almost all the country between the Satluj and the Ravi in the outer hills, as well as the area in the plains known as Jalandhara Doab. The country to the west of Kangra was also called Katoch, and was one of the three provinces of the Kangra Valley - the other two being Changar and Palam. Changar is the name given to the area south of Palam and consists of chains of barren low hills. Palam is the fertile area to the east between Kangra and Baijnath and is studded with tea gardens and paddy fields.
Sansar Chand was the most renowned of the Rajas who ruled in Kangra. His father, Tegh Chand, had a brief and uneventful rule for a year. However, his grandfather, Ghamand Chand (1751-1774), was a powerful ruler. The Mughal power was on the wane, and Ahmed Shah Durram who acquired supremacy over the Punjab, appointed Ghamand Chand as Governor of Jalandhara Doab. Thus Ghamand Chand was able to extend his power in the hills, becoming the supreme ruler over the Hill States between the Satluj and the Ravi, and gaining control of Palam from Chamba. He embellished his capital, Tira-Sujanpur, with many new buildings.
When Sansar Chand ascended the throne in 1776, he was only ten years of age. There was complete confusion in the plains of the Punjab. The Durranis of Afghanistan were unable to establish their power effectively, and the Sikhs under the missals, were holding sway over the plains, and were also extending their power towards the hills. Sansar Chand raised a large army of mercenaries consisting of Rajputs, Afghans and Rohillas, and extended his rule over all the neighboring Rajput States. He successfully withstood many combinations made against him. He invaded the neighboring States, killed Raja Raj Singh of Chamba in a battle, and made Ishwari Sen, the Raja of Mandi, his captive. Prakash Chand of Guler was virtually his vassal. In 1786 he obtained from Sardar Jai Singh Kanhaya the famous Kangra fort which he had conquered from Saif Ali Khan, the last Mughal Governor. A place impregnable by the arms and artillery of those times-its possession gave control of the neighboring country. There is a proverb in the hills -'He who holds the Kangra fort, holds the Hills'.
With the occupation of the Kangra fort, Sansar Chand became the most powerful Raja of the Kangra Valley. He gained a renown which had not been surpassed by any of his ancestors. He was able to establish law and order in the hills at a time when the Mughal Empire was in the throes of dissolution, and conditions in the plains were chaotic. On account of the peace which he was able to establish in the Kangra Valley, he attracted poets and painters and encouraged the fine arts. Thus writes Ghulam Mohiuddin in his Tawarikh-i-Punjab: "For many years he passed his days in great felicity. He was generous in conduct, kind to his subjects, just as Naushirvan, and a second Akbar in the recognition of men's good qualities. Crowds of people of skill and talent, professional soldiers, and others resorted to Kangra, and gained happiness from his gifts and favors. Those addicted to pleasure, who live for the others, flocked from all quarters and profited exceedingly by gratification of his liberality. Performers and story-tellers collected in such numbers, and received such gifts and favors at his hands that he was regarded as the Hatim of that age, and in generosity the Rustom of the time."
In 1820 Moorcroft, an English traveler, paid a visit to Sansar Chand, while on his way to Samarkand on a mission to purchase ponies. He has left an interesting account of Sansar Chand, his family and his daily life. Thus writes Moorcroft, "In the evening I waited upon the Raja at his desire, and found him with his son and grandson in an open building in a garden. Raja Sansar Chand is a tall well-formed man, about sixty. His complexion is dark and his features are fine and expressive. His son, Rai Aniruddha Chand, has a very handsome face and ruddy complexion, but is remarkably corpulent. He has two sons, one of twelve and the other of five years of age, both less fair than himself. Sansar Chand was formerly the most powerful Raja from the Satluj to the Indus. All the potentates from the former river to Kashmir, were his tributaries or dependents, and he was extremely wealthy, possessing a revenue of thirty-five lakhs of rupees. He is now poor and in danger of being wholly subjected to Ranjit Singh."
Describing the daily life of the Raja, Moorcroft writes: "Raja Sansar Chand spends the early part of the day in the ceremonies of his religion; and from ten till noon in communication with his officers and courtiers. For several days prior to my departure, he passed this period at a small bangala, which he had given up for my accommodation, on the outside of the garden. At noon the Raja retires for two or three hours, after which he ordinarily plays at chess for some time, and the evening is devoted to singing and dancing in which the performers recite most commonly Brajabhasi songs relating to Krishna. Sansar Chand is fond of drawing and has many artists in his employ; he has a large collection of pictures, but the greater part represents the feats of Krishna and Balarama, the adventures of Arjuna, and subjects from the Mahabharata."
Nadaun was a gay place during the reign of Sansar Chand and there was a saying current in the Kangra Hills, "Who will go away once he comes to Nadaun?" Sansar Chand also built a temple near the maiden at Tira-Sujanpur in honor of Radha and Krishna. Krishna's grandson was Aniruddha and Sansar Chand named his heir apparent Aniruddha Chand. These facts indicate what devotion Sansar Chand, an ardent Vaishnava, had for Krishna. The most beautiful series of paintings of Radha and Krishna were painted under the patronage of Sansar Chand, and include paintings for the Bhagavat Purana, Bihari's Sat Sai, and Jayadeva Goswami's Gita Govinda.
After the death of Sansar Chand in December 1823, his son, Aniruddha Chand, became the Raja of Kangra. However, he was Raja only in name and had to go to the court of Ranjit Singh at Lahore to pay tribute from time to time. In 1829, Aniruddha Chand paid a visit to Lahore with his family. He had with him his two sisters. Raja Dhian Singh of Jammu, who was the chief adviser to Maharaja Ranjit Singh, happened to see them, and he wanted Aniruddha Chand to marry them to his son Hira Singh, a handsome boy who had become a great favorite at court. The pride of the hill chief was roused at the proposition of so degrading an alliance, but the influence of Ranjit Singh procured from him a written promise that the two young women should be at his disposal. The mother of Aniruddha Chand, however, succeeded in carrying them off, and took refuge with them in the hills under British protection. Aniruddha Chand soon followed her, leaving his possessions on the other side of the Satluj at the mercy of Ranjit Singh, who sequestered the whole, and received the surrender of them without any resistance from Fateh Chand, Sansar Chand's brother. Gulab Dassi Gaddan, a concubine of Sansar Chand, was enticed away from the family, and fell on this occasion into Ranjit Singh's hands, along with several children she had borne to the late Raja. Ranjit Singh married two of the daughters, Mahtab Devi and Rajbanso, and conferred the title of Raja of Nadaun upon a son.
Aniruddha Chand carried the best paintings from the collection of his father, including those of the Gita Govinda and illustrations to Bihari's Sat Sai with his two sisters to Tehri-Garhwal. The two princesses were married to Raja Sudarshan Shah of Garhwal (1815-1859), and the paintings were given as a wedding dowry.
Kangra Paintings of the Gita Govinda
Sansar Chand, a devotee of Krishna, had great love and admiration for the religious literature of Vaishnavism, and encouraged artists to illustrate themes from the Bhagavata Purana, Bihari's Sat Sai, and Jayadeva's Gita Govinda. The Kangra master painters who illustrated the difficult and often abstruse Sanskrit and Hindi texts were not mere artisans and craftsmen, scholarly pandits as well. They had good knowledge and understanding of Sanskrit and inscribed the verses they illustrated on the back of the paintings. In the case of the Gita Govinda paintings, they also provided a translation in the Punjabi dialect of Kangra, in Devanagari script.
Poetry and painting are closely related. "Not only was the poetic sense, throughout the world and for many centuries, one of the elements of art, but over a long period painting was poetry's most favored mode of expression,'' says Malraux, discussing the art of the Italian masters like Fra Angelico, Botticelli, Leonardo, Titian, and Michaelangelo. In fact all great painting, whether of the East or the West, is steeped in poetry. Literary ideas and literary traditions also play a great part in Chinese and Japanese art. Says the Chinese proverb, "A picture is a voiceless poem - a poem is a vocal picture."
When the Kangra master painter Manak undertook the task of illustrating the text of the Gita Govinda, he was in a very favorable situation. He expressed the poetry of the Bengali poet Jayadeva in the shape of the beautiful Kangra Valley landscape. The background to the love of Radha and Krishna and the gopis is provided by the undulating hills studded with mango groves and gently flowing fresh-water streams, with crystal-clear water, on whose banks saras cranes and egrets amble gracefully. The landscape is reminiscent of the hill country along the Beas river and its tributaries between Lambagraon and Tira-Sujanpur. How fortunate was the artist who translated such poetry into painting, and in the process created an art which is supremely beautiful!
Here we see Radha's eyes opened only to see love! We see her anxiously conversing with her confidantes. We see her pining in separation from her lover. We see her consumed with the fire of jealousy. We also see her full of joy, with eyes full of love, when she meets her lover. What a world of feeling we find revealed in these paintings - beauty, love, sorrow, and joy! In these paintings, the love of Radha and Krishna has a beauty which has no parallel in the art of any other country.
Kangra art, when it is at its best is in fact the color of music. It is an art, as Noguchi would call it "hung as a web in the air of perfume, soft yet vivid, it sways in music!" A good example of the affinity which Kangra art has with music can be seen in a number of paintings of the Gita Govinda, particularly in Plate 13. This painting possesses that tender simplicity, romantic beauty and lyrical grace characteristic of Kangra art. Radha and Krishna are seated in a glade beside the Yamuna. He is placing an ear ring studded with pearls on Radha's ear, with great tenderness. There is beautiful sentiment in the whole composition. The rhythmic current of the rivulet and the gently undulating hills create a limpid flowing harmony.
In spite of the lapse of about two centuries, these paintings still retain their sparkling colors. The artists used pure mineral dyes which were carefully and laboriously ground. The freshness of their colors is also partly explained by the fact that they were never framed and hung upon walls. In fact they are portfolio pictures which were taken out of the family chest on special occasions only. They were viewed in a state of grace and, after admiring their beauty, were wrapped in embroidered pieces of cloth and replaced in the chest.
As the artist was illustrating a poem describing the beauty of the countryside, he made lavish use of pure blue and green colors - how pure the blue of the sky - how rich green of the and trees. Kangra artists lived in the villages of Alampur, Sujanpur, and Nadaun on the Beas and painted in the quiet of their huts, buried in groves of bamboo, mangoes, and plantains. Their paintings breathe the beauty of nature.
Plate 4 shows the beauty of spring. The hills covered with green grass are dotted with clumps of mangoes. Clasping the dark mango and tamala trees are flowering creepers. Resting in the dark foliage of the trees are pairs of love-birds. In the center of the painting is Radha and Krishna. The mountains, the trees, the birds, and the lovers are woven into such harmonious composition. The trees are painted with a great sense of decorative effect, and the vivid contrast of dark and light green colors conveys the warmth and brightness of spring.
Plate 5 is another joyful picture of spring. Krishna is surrounded by gopis dressed in colorful clothes. He is touching the chin of one with affection, and is fondly embracing another. The gopis are gazing at Krishna with thirsty eyes like the moon-birds at the full moon. To all this gaiety, contrast is provided by a heart-broken Radha shown in a corner with her companion. The dark crowns of the trees are decorated with white flowers of creepers, and the ground is carpeted with colorful flowering plants. The dark clouds, the blue river, the sombre forests of tamala trees, flowering shrubs and creepers are Krishna's favorite haunts in Vrindavana.
It is said that, "Chaitanya Mahaprabhu often fell into trance at the sight of dark blue clouds, which reminded Him of Krishna. He regarded lightning as Krishna's yellow robe and the music of birds as the sound of Krishna's flute. He regarded the skeins of cranes beating the air with pure white wings, against the background of dark blue clouds, as a garland of white flowers decorating the breast of His dark blue Lord and Master. At the sight of every hillock He fell into a trance, reminded of Govardhana Hill where Krishna sported, and every river showed Him the ripples of the Yamuna on the banks of which Krishna played with His cowherd friends. The flowers reminded Him of the beauty of Krishna's eyes and He wept when He touched them. Sometimes the smell of flowers emanating from the Puri temple kept Him fixed to the spot like a picture; He thought that His Krishna was approaching and the scent of a thousand flowers were announcing His approach, thus He trembled in deep emotion with tearful eyes and passed into a trance." Following this same spirit of love, the Kangra artist painted the illustrations of the Gita Govinda.
Night effects have a special attraction for Manak. Here are visions of beauty and love glowing upon the darkness of the night. In Plate 1, the scene is a nocturne, illustrating the first meeting of Radha and Krishna in a grove by the river bank. In the dark forest of tamala trees, the radiant figures of Radha and Krishna provide a delightful contrast. The palmyra palms, with fan-shaped leaves and tall and straight trunks, contrast with the sinuous tamalas. They accent the forest in a refreshing manner. Soft shadows cast by the trees in starlight are also shown by the artist. The shyness and modesty of Radha and the affection of Krishna are elegantly depicted. One of the noblest creations of the Kangra artists, this painting is a poem in form and color, suffused with the aroma of love, which is so characteristic of the song of Jayadeva. Undoubtedly, it is one of the most beautiful of the Gita Govinda series.
Plate 7 depicts another night scene. Radha is standing at the edge of the grove. Her arms are stretched out as if she is embracing the darkness of the night, whom she regards as Krishna. The sky is inky blue dotted with silvery stars. In the distance is Krishna seated on a green hillock, and Radha's messenger is explaining how her mistress is pining away because of the pain of separation from him. The color is glorious, a wonderful soft blue. The colorful drapery of the messenger and the yellow wrap of Krishna provide a pleasant contrast with the darkness of the night. In the foreground, like the storm raging in Radha's mind, is the swirling current of the Yamuna. In this painting we also see perspective that is not found in the miniatures of the Kangra School.
Plates 10, 11, and 12 illustrate anecdotes from Cantos XI-XII in which Jayadeva describes the meeting and union of Radha and Krishna. In Plate 10 wonderfully harmonious are the contrasts of tone and color. The radiant personality of blue Krishna, wearing a garland of white flowers, provides a happy contrast to the dark tamala trees. The shyness and modesty of Radha, escorted by her female companion, contrasts with the eagerness of Krishna who is looking at her with longing eyes. The artist has imbibed the solemn, mysterious beauty of night and its romance.
These paintings of the Gita Govinda are the finest Kangra paintings in existence, and represent Kangra art at its best. They have an air of tenderness and refinement with lines of rhythmic beauty - the swirling current of the Yamuna and the flowing lianas clasping the trunks of the giant trees. In them, we breathe the fragrance of the forests of Vrindavan. No doubt, they are the product of a very refined mind. They pulsate with poetic feeling and have the same wildflower aroma which breathes in Jayadeva's exquisite woodland pastoral, and they fully justify Archer's observation that "Kangra artists accomplished the supremely difficult task of translating poetry into painting."
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