5 6 SECTION TWO EXTANT REMAINS. ^1 As yet there is ao scientific record of the murals that exist in the area studied in this dissertation. The buildings which contain these are now very old. lilany of them are dilapidated, most are in a sad state of repairs. It is doubtful if many of the pieces seen and recorded by the author would remain intact for any length of time. A most precious treasure would be irretriveably lost. No student can do anything to prevent this decay and disintegration. But the next best, viz. verbal and photographic recording of the paintings as data for reconstructing of our cultural history, can and has been done. And since, a study like this one is the most proper place for recording such data, this section contains elaborate descriptions of the murals surveyed and studied by the author. It has increased to some extent the length of the work, but this has been accepted as a necessary evil - if it can be called one. District Ahmadnagar There were a number of monumeats in and around the city of Ahmadnagar built during the times of the Nizamsh^^hi rulers. Most of these are now in ruins. During the Maratha period a number of places like Nevase, Toke etc. acq.uired a large nmber of beautiful buildings. But for a few temples in stone, very little now remains. The only place where sizeable remains of murals were discovered was Benawadi. 63 Benawadi - Harinarayana Math - The Harinarayana Math at Benawadi in Ahmednagar district preserves some beautiful paintings in the mandapa adjoining the main shrine. Swami Harinarayana was a famous saint, who lived in the first half of the eighteenth century. He enjoyed full patronage of Chattrapati Shahu and it is said that the Ghattrapati built eleven monastries for his use. Swami Harinarayan died at Benawadi and the monastery under discussion was errected in his memory. As mentioned earlier this structure preserves murals in the mandapa which measures 7.30 M X 7.30 M. The murals are located on the wall at a height of about 3 M. from the ground and comparatively, therefore, have remained* in a good state of preservation. The mandapa with mural work has arches on all the four sides. The side facing East has an entrance to the main shrine. The murals exist on the wall surface above the entrance arches, but enclosed by the larger wall-arches. Along with this the octogone that forms the drum of the dome, the sq.uinches and the dome-shaped ceiling also bear mural work. The murals depict mythological subjects and the location of the lihemes on the walls is as follows. 60 Wail facing North - The space above the ceatrai arch shows ’Draupadi Swayamvara*, in the centre and surrounding it are figures of various deities liice Pancharaukiii Mahadeva, 7ishnu, Bramhadeva, Rampanchayatana ( partly damaged) and also saints like Tyasa. In the squinches, figures of Sadhus appear. Wall facing Bast - In the space above the central arch a partly damaged depiction of the ' G-opivastraharana' could be identified. Except a picture which exists on the right hand side of the central piece and in which figures of a king, a sadhu and an attendant appearj?, rest of the pictures are washed out. 'J?he sadhu appearing in the above mentioned mural is perhaps Harinarayana Swami, who wears a long 'Kafani* and has a veena in his hand. V/all facing South - In the central picture there appears a deity v/ho is shown seated on a seat which looks like Shivalinga. He holds an arrow or sword in his hand. On his head he wears a karanda mukuta and has a beard. On either side of the deity a godess and a number of attendants appear. One of the attendants holds a chhatra while the other is with an abadagira. A figure of a bird also could be noticed in the picture and if it is a peacock^the deity depicted in this picture could be identified as 'Kartikeya'. In the remaining space of this side are shown varaha, vamana, 5’arshuraiaa, Buddha and Kalki. In the space of the squinches figures of sadhu are shown. i/all facing West - The Dashavatara theme is continued on this wall and there appear figures of Kurma and Matsya. The central space,{that is above the central arch")shows Granapati. On his right hand side there appears Saraswati seated on a peacock, while on the left hand side is seen 'Kamalasana’ Lakshmi. Mahishasurmardini appears in the space on the right hand side. The squinches display figures of asetics. The ceiling is decorated with concentric bands of the floral motifs. These murals are done in the fresco technique. The colourwork has a white background and the surviving colours are crimson red, yellow ochre and black. Outlines are done in black while some shading with gray colour could be noticed on the figtires. The figures are heavy and have deep curves in the body. Their actions and postures are tense. The male figures of the deities have traditional ^ 2 . costumes. They have karandaka mukuta, while some of the minor figiires wear angarkha, chudidar, dupatta and pagadis of Peshwai and Rajasthani types. Female figures wear Maharashtrian saii and choli, v/hile a few figures are dressed in Uorth Indian costume. The pattern of stripes and dotts on the cloths are noteworthy as it was current in the South India during the Nayaka period. 6 3 District Belgaum This district has a large number of historical monuments. However the only noteworthy structure of the Maratha period that is now in a fairly good state of preservation is the palatial mansion of the Desais of Hipani. Although the murals in this palace represent the very last expressions of ilaratha art, thel¥ quality makes it imperative that they should be discussed in some detail. 6^ Nipani - The fortifiGd palace of the Desai family at Nxpani is one of the prominent palaces of the Maratha period and along with other characteristic features of contemporary architecture.it is noted for the mural f ^ decoration v/hich exists on its walls. The construction work of this palace was commenced by gidhojirao Nipankar, the founder of the royal house of Nipani, in 1793 A.D. and it continued with certain breaks upto the 1839 A.D. The mural work of the palace thus belongs to the first half of the nineteenth century. Today murals exist on the walls of the darbar ^ b ^ l and on the walls of a small room, supposed to be the bedroom of the owner. The flaking of the plain lime wash v/hich was applied on the walls of several rooms at a later date reveals the remains of the murals that once covered these walls. It shows that a good deal of mural paintiag existed in the palace, besides the work in the portions mentioned above. Sidhojirao ITipankar was a devotee of lord Krishna and hence Krishnalila is the theme which is mainly depicted in the murals. However, the paintings executed in the darbar hall and those in the bed chamber seem to be executed by different artists as a stylistic difference which is clearly discernible. <<5' -Darbar Hall - Th.e darbar-liall of tiie upper storey is quite spacious, measuring 16 M X 12 M. It faces 3ast and is open from the Eastern side. 'J!he wall which faces Sast and has the entrance to the darbar-hall, bears paintings. This v/all is divided into hine sections by pillars, Out of these t?/o enclose one door each. Ihe remaining seven sections display eloborate alcoves. 'The rectangular space of each section is enclosed by an arch, in relief. Within QK it small niches of various sizes carved. There are eight A of 'Hnes(0 . Six Ball sections bear murals. The themes appear in the following order. Section ifo.l. The central rectangular frame shows Bakasuravadha and the small sections sourrounding this frame have a Brahamin reading some holy scripture, Radha and Krishna, a Brahamin worshipping Shivalinga, again Radha-Krishna. Section 110.2. The central frame shov/s Krishna-Janma. Smaller frames have, seated Radha-Krishna, Musicians, some unidentified deity and floral decorative motif. Section lTo.3. In the central frame Krishnaleela theme appears 66 while the other frames show females holding arati tray, Vishnu and floral motifs. Section ITo, 4 . The main theme of this section is Krishna's departure for Mathura. The frame above this one shows seated Laicshami and on either side are, frames depicting a priest Qjta Krisiina doing hair of Radha and Krishna with Radha. Section Eo. 5. The theme of Mahishasurmardini appears in the central frame. Other frames show female figures of attendants and floral motifs. Section Ho. 6. In the centre some seated deity is depicted. The rectangular frame on the left shows Shiva-Parvati, while the frame on the right depicts Lakshami-ITarayana and G-aruda. Other frames shows floral decorative motifs. Each section measures approximately 1,40 M. X 1.40 M. and the frames inside the sections measure 55 cms. X 40 cms. 5b:om these measurements of tlie frames it is quite clear that the paintings are miniature in size. These miniatures on the wall are executed on a plastered surface. 6 / v/ith v/ater colours. Outlines are done in black and red and other sxirviving coSiours are crimson, vermilion, yellow ochre, deep green. Ultramarine blue is also present but is fad^^ while the green has turned almost black. The figures are done in a stylized manner. The forceful curves of the body of the figures and their wide open eyes are note'^worthy.