Gouache painting on paper from a portfolio of sixty-three paintings of deities and daily life. Painting on two sheets of paper (taped together) depicting The Churning of the Milky Ocean. In the centre of the page is mount Mandara with a serpent coiled around, being used to churn the ocean to release the Amrita (nectar of immortality) and other precious objects. Other deities are shown surrounding this central scene.

Painting on paper depicting The Churning of the World. This remarkably detailed painting shows the Samudramanthana episode. At the centre of the composition is mount Mandara, identified by an inscription in English. As usual in South Indian painting, at the top of the mountain a temple’s golden kalasha is visible. Just above it, Vishnu is emerging half bust from a cloud, carrying the amrita vessel in his hands. The densely forested Mandara, inhabited by gandharvas playing musical instruments, rests on the Kurma, duly identified by an inscription: ’Kurm raja’. Coiled around the mountain is the serpent Vasuki, identified as ‘Vasuka’, whose tail end is held by the dikpalas, here identified as ’Asuras’ and the head by the asuras, here labelled ‘Suras’. Both dikpalas and asuras stand in the ocean’s water filled with fish. The dikpalas are headed by Indra easily recognizable by the vajra in his hand and by the thousand eyes on his body. He is followed by the two-headed Agni, the bushy-moustached Yama, and by Nirriti, Varuna, Vayu, Kubera, Ishana, Surya and Chandra. On the opposite side are nine asuras, enveloped by the dark fumes spewed out by Vasuki. In the foreground are the many precious objects which emerged from the depths of the sea: the horse Uchchaihshravas, here depicted with only one instead of the usual seven heads, the white elephant Airavata, a throne(?), the fire, the tulsi plant, a chariot, the goddess Lakshmi seated on a lotus , identified by an inscription: ‘Lakshmee, goddess of abundance’, the parijata tree, Surabhi, Soma, a portly man seated on a throne carrying a book, identified by an inscription as ‘Daruma god of water’, possibly Varuna?, five precious stones, yet another tree, possibly the kalpavriksha, the apsaras, one of whom, Tilottama is immediately carried away by the asura brothers Sunda and Upasunda, and finally a goddess with a broom, possibly Jyeshtha or Alakshmi, sister of Lakshmi and goddess of misfortune. It should be noted that the list of the objects retrieved from the ocean varies according to the texts. The variety presented here is especially large, as it includes the throne, the fire, the tulsi, the chariot, and last but not least Alakshmi. It is also unusual to find the story of Tilottama, Sunda and Upasunda hinted at in this context. Yet another remarkable feature is the presence of Varuna (?). It is generally Varuni the goddess of wine who appears in the renderings of this incident, and another strange omission is that of Dhanvantari, the physician of the gods, who appears with the amrita vessel in his hands. As noted above, in this painting it is Vishnu who carries the amrita to the devas. In the left upper corner of the painting Vishnu as Mohini, identified by an inscription ’Narayana’, is doling out the amrita to the assembled gods seated opposite the asuras. While she is busy she is distracted by the asuras clamouring for their share. In that moment, Rahu seated among the devas, and anxious to get his share of amrita, is discovered and decapitated by Vishnu’s chakra. The story continues in the upper right corner: the gods and the asuras are engaged in a fight, and immediately to the left, Shiva swallows the hahahala poison, shown as a blue line on his throat, under the watchful gaze of the gods and of Parvati.

Company School
1820
Andhra Pradesh

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