Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v1.c5.s3: A Palace Scene : A Lady Reclining on a Couch

Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v1.c5.s3

Language: English

A Palace Scene : A Lady Reclining on a Couch

*The subject is painted above the window, on the wall of the front aisle, to the left of the main doorway. The fresco is much damaged, but owing to its artistic qualities it has been reproduced both in colour and monochrome.*

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THE scene represents a lady (princess?) having a bath while reclining on a couch. Her languid mood betrays that she is broken-hearted through grief. She may be identified with the wife of the Buddha at his great ‘Renunciation’, or with Princess Sivalī, who felt deeply grieved at Mahājanaka’s becoming an ascetic and ultimately herself renounced the world.³

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³ If the latter identification is correct, then the scene delineated on the rock wall refers to this episode of the *Jātaka*: ‘When Prince Mahājanaka was wishing to make the queen (Sivalī) turn back, he saw some *munja* grass near the road, so he cut a stalk of it and said to her, “See, Sivalī, this stalk cannot be joined again”, and he repeated this half-stanza, “Like to a *munja* reed full-grown, live on, O Sivalī, alone”. When she heard him, she said, “I am henceforth to have no intercourse with King Mahājanaka”, and being unable to control her grief, she beat her breast with both hands and fell senseless. Her ministers came and sprinkled her body with water and rubbed her hands and feet, and at last she recovered consciousness.’ Cowell, *Jātaka*, vi. 37.

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The lady is resting on the couch with a pillow under her head and another under her left foot. Her head is inclined towards the right side, but the legs, although folded up, are not inclined in that direction, so there is a contortion in the body near the waist-line. To a European this pose may look inelegant, but the Ajanta artists rejoiced in showing such poses; evidently they aimed at producing by them an impression of suppleness. The treatment of the figure in other respects is excellent; the legs have been purposely drawn thin to show that she has been pining for love. Again, the expression of the face is sad, and the pale brown tint of the body indicates her anaemic condition.

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A fair attendant is pouring water from a pot on her head and another on her legs. Between these two figures there is a third attendant, whose head is destroyed, but the bust, clad in a tight bodice of white material, is intact. This attendant holds a stick in her right hand. A male servant, with a pitcher on his shoulder, is standing at the door of the chamber.

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At the right side of the bed a maid with a fly-whisk is sitting and another is looking in an anxious manner at the lady. The figure of the latter maid is destroyed and only the head is intact, but its delineation shows masterly skill. There was a third maid on this side of the bed, whose grey hand removing the pearl-string from the neck of the lady may be traced.

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The pose of the maid who is pouring water on the legs of the lady is extremely graceful, although the treatment of the waist and the bust may be considered as somewhat exaggerated, but exaggeration of these parts is a common fault of Indian artists, sculptor, painter, and poet alike.

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The striped material of the cushions on the couch of the lady, and the floral design of the cloth of the bodice of the attendant with the fly-whisk, will interest the student of old Indian textiles.

Cites (1)

Jātakatthavaṇṇanā — Pāli