No celebration of ritikavya can be complete until we have enjoyed the sonorous poetry of Matiram and the sensuous images of Purkhu. With well sculpted words and lyrical rhythms Matiram takes us into the rarefied world of the nayak and the nayika, their amorous exchanges, the sensuality of loving glances, the charged moments of romantic feelings, the heart throb of belonging, the poignancy of longing and above all the fulfilment of desire.
Line by line and doha after doha, Matiram leads us into the emotionally charged world of shringararasa and for those of us who are chastened by harishringara we go from one level to another till we hear the flute of Krishna. And when we find that these sonorous words of Matiram have been brought alive by none other than Purkhu and his school of painting under the patronage of Sansar Chand of Kangra our joy is doubled and Matiram’s words become visual poetry.
In the hands of Purkhu words become lines, emotions take on a colour and desire becomes palpable through the magic of his kalam.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Harsha V Dehejia
Harsha V. Dehejia has a double doctorate, one in Medicine and the other in Ancient Indian Culture, both from Mumbai University. He is also a Member of the Royal College of Physicians of London and Glasgow and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada, all by examination. He is a practising Physician in Ottawa and also Adjunct Professor in the College of Humanities of Carleton University in Ottawa. His special interest is in Indian Aesthetics. His publications include: Advaita of Art, Parvatidarpana, Despair and Modernity, Gods Beyond Temples and Leaves of a Pipal Tree (all by Motilal Banarasidass, Delhi); Parvati: Goddess of Love, The Flute and The Lotus: Romantic Moments in Poetry and Painting and Celebrating Krishna: Sensuous Images, Sacred Words (all by Mapin, Ahmedabad); A Celebration of Love: The Romantic Heroine in the Indian Arts and A Festival of Krishna (both by Roli, Delhi).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Vijay Sharma
Born in 1962 Vijay Sharma is an award winning Pahari miniaturist and works as an artist in the Bhuri Singh Museum, Chamba, Himachal Pradesh. He has studied major collections of Indian painting across the world and has lecture-demonstrations in leading museums and institutions in India and abroad. He has written several scholarly articles on Pahari miniature painting. He paints in various styles of Indian painting, chiefly Basohli and Kangra schools of Pahari painting. Howerer, the work included here in Chaurapanchashika style reveals the fertile imagination of artist.
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