The Artists of Nathadwara: The Practice of Painting in Rajasthan. By Tryna Lyons. (Mapin: Indian University Press, 2004. Pp 360, photos, ISBN 0-25334-417-4)

The town of Nathadwara is in the state of Rajasthan, forty-five kilometres west of Udaipur, on the road to Jodhpur and Ajmer. The surrounding land is largely rocky uplands, part of the Aravalli range of hills, and cut by a few narrow, fertile valleys. The town owes its existence almost entirely to its temples and the resulting traffic of pilgrims. The temples in turn owe their attraction mainly to the presence of one particular deity, Shri Nathji, who is the presiding deity of the main temple in Nathadwara. The temples (1670-1672) were built by the Vallabha sampraday sect, after the image of Shri Nathji was transported from Braj, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, where the sect was originally founded two hundred years earlier. The image of Shri Nathji is a manifestation of Krishna when he raised Mount Govardhana to save the villagers from the wrath of Indra the storm god. The image is made of black stone and is about four feet (1.2m) tall. Shri Nathji receives his subjects and imparts divine grace during darshan, held at eight specified times each day. This is the main form of congregational worship for the Vallabha sampraday. Devotees come and make personal contact with Shri Nathji and perform tasks for him (seva), or give donations of cash or kind that can be used for his daily routine. Pilgrims purchase paintings of Shri Nathji as well those that record his worship and the many festivals in Nathadwara. The production of these paintings is the main source of revenue for the group of hereditary painters who form the subject of this book. Shri Nathji is revered as a king and he has a huge household of servants who attend to his needs. Priests, cooks, musicians and painters all accompanied the image when it left Braj and many of their descendants are still found in Nathadwara. This book discusses the work and lives of one group of painters known as Adi Gaurs, who accompanied the image from Braj, and another group, the Jangir, who came later. There is no intermarriage between the two groups. The Adi Gaurs consider themselves to be socially and ritually superior, as they accompanied the image from Braj and were therefore first in Nathadwara. Decoration (sringar) is central to the worship of Shri Nathji, so for that reason painters have always been important to record the ritual and celebrations both inside and outside the temple. These traditional painters retained sketchbooks for several generations and they are still used to teach the younger artists. They provide a pictorial account of the evolution of the artistic tradition of individual families and record the variety of subjects pursued by many of the painters. The discovery of these sketchbooks, guarded by families as their real wealth, helps us to learn how their tradition of painting was passed on. A unique feature of this book is to present photographs of these sketchbooks. Painters were often commissioned to paint the events in the temple but were not allowed to sketch while within the temple compound. It was therefore essential that they train their memory to record detail. The worship of Shri Nathji is very visual. Beautiful dresses and large painted backdrops (picchavi) are hung behind the image. Each season and time of day has its own rules for decorating the image, the food to be served and music to be played. It was and still is the task of the traditional artists to record in paintings the events surrounding the worship of Shri Nathji. Their subjects included the regular worship …