Siva-puja thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

Siva-puja

Painting
ca. 1900 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Abanindranath Tagore (1871 - 1951) was the pioneer and leading exponent of the Bengal School of Art. In his paintings, he sought to counter the influence of Western art as taught in art schools under the British Raj, by modernizing indigenous Moghul and Rajput traditions. His work became so influential that it was eventually accepted and regarded as a national Indian style within British and international art institutions.

In his work, Abanindranath retrieved themes from the Indian epic past or scenes from romantic tales, such as Arabian Nights or Omar Khaiyam and reworked them in a highly romanticised style.

This painting depicts a young woman performing 'Shiva-Puja', worship of the Hindu god Shiva. She is dressed in a pale green and white sari seated on an animal skin placed on a low red charpoi. With her right hand she holds a tambura and with the her left she salutes a large black linga (representing Shiva) decked with red and white flowers. The night sky with a crescent moon can be seen in the background. This subject may represent the Ragini Bhairavi of the Raga Bhairava, a piece of music played at dawn in the months of September - October.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleSiva-puja (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Painted in opaque watercolour on paper
Brief description
Painting, Siva-puja, by Abanindranath Tagore, painting, watercolour on paper, Bengal, ca. 1900
Physical description
Painting, watercolour on paper. This painting depicts a young woman performing Shiva-puja. She is dressed in a pale green and white sari seated on an animal skin placed on a low red charpoi. With her right hand she holds a tambura and with the her left she salutes a large black linga (representing Shiva) decked with red and white flowers. The night sky with a crescent moon can be seen in the background. This subject may represent the Ragini Bhairavi of the Raga Bhairava, a piece of music played at dawn in the months of September - October. On the internal margins there are some traces of golden paint. The signature of the artist is on the bottom left hand corner.
Dimensions
  • Height: 12.6cm
  • Width: 9.3cm
  • Conservation paper upon which card is mounted height: 17.5cm
  • Conservation paper upon which card is mounted width: 13.2cm
Content description
A young woman performing Shiva-puja. She is dressed in a pale green and white sari seated on an animal skin placed on a low red charpoi. With her right hand she holds a tambura and with the her left she salutes a large black linga (representing Shiva) decked with red and white flowers. The night sky with a crescent moon can be seen in the background.
Style
Marks and inscriptions
(Signature on left hand corner in brown paint.)
Credit line
Given by Sir Robert Nathan, K.C.S.I., C.I.E
Object history
Bequest. RF 1921/4451. From the Collection of Sir R. Nathan (Office of the Private Secretary to the Viceroy Lord Curzon.) He is likely to have collected this between 1904 to 1905 when he was Private secretary to the Viceroy, from the Moulvi Muhammad Husain, Judge of Small Cause court, Delhi.
Historical context
Abanindranath Tagore (1871 - 1951) was the pioneer and leading exponent of the Bengal School of Art. In his paintings, he sought to counter the influence of Western art as taught in art schools under the British Raj, by modernizing indigenous Moghul and Rajput traditions. His work became so influential that it was eventually accepted and regarded as a national Indian style within British and international art institutions.

In his work, Abanindranath retrieved themes from the Indian epic past or scenes from romantic tales, such as Arabian Nights or Omar Khaiyam and reworked them in a highly romanticised style. The artist’s desire to emancipate Indian art from European influence was also fostered by Japanese artist Okakura Kakuzo, who visited him in 1902. Later, studying Japanese art under Japanese artists, Taikoan and Hilsida, Abanindranath assimilated Far Eastern techniques such as the wash into his work. His Omar Khaiyam series (1906-08) reflects such influences. Abanindranath’s use of colour was also highly personalized and found its appropriate language in two major techniques: wash and tempera.
Subject depicted
Summary
Abanindranath Tagore (1871 - 1951) was the pioneer and leading exponent of the Bengal School of Art. In his paintings, he sought to counter the influence of Western art as taught in art schools under the British Raj, by modernizing indigenous Moghul and Rajput traditions. His work became so influential that it was eventually accepted and regarded as a national Indian style within British and international art institutions.

In his work, Abanindranath retrieved themes from the Indian epic past or scenes from romantic tales, such as Arabian Nights or Omar Khaiyam and reworked them in a highly romanticised style.

This painting depicts a young woman performing 'Shiva-Puja', worship of the Hindu god Shiva. She is dressed in a pale green and white sari seated on an animal skin placed on a low red charpoi. With her right hand she holds a tambura and with the her left she salutes a large black linga (representing Shiva) decked with red and white flowers. The night sky with a crescent moon can be seen in the background. This subject may represent the Ragini Bhairavi of the Raga Bhairava, a piece of music played at dawn in the months of September - October.
Bibliographic references
  • Dr Ratan Parimoo, The paintings of the three great Tagores: Abanindranath Tagore, Gaganendranath Tagore and Rabindranath Tagore. Chronology and comparative studies, 1973
  • Patel, Divia; Arts of Asia, vol. 45, no. 5, September - October 2015, "Engaging with Contemporary South Asia", p.79, no. 1.
Collection
Accession number
IM.255-1921

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Record createdJuly 22, 2003
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