AN ILLUSTRATED FOLIO FROM A BHAGAVATA PURANA SERIES: KRISHNA AND HIS BRIDE'S SAPTAPADI CEREMONY
PROPERTY FROM A CANADIAN COLLECTION
Kangra, Pahari Hills, Himachal Pradesh, Northern India, ca. 1840s - 1860s

Opaque pigments heightened with gold on burnished wove paper, the horizontal composition possibly depicting a saptapadi (Seven Steps) ceremony, one of the many traditional wedding rituals that Indian grooms and brides must go through before their marriage becomes official, where the couple takes seven steps around a sacred fire or blessed altar, often while the priest recites mantras, in the present scene Krishna as the groom standing on a yantra or geometrical diagram next to his bride fully covered head to toe with a gold-embroidered red shawl, their feet getting rubbed with an auspicious herb, possibly wild rue, the couple surrounded by many attending ladies and men, some busy carrying pots, most of the ladies chatting, gossiping and observing the scene, Lord Ganesha (the Remover of Obstacles) in the upper right pavilion appearing as a good omen to the blessed union, set within a Kangra-style border with white rosettes and yellow leaves on cobalt blue ground, pasted on a gilt cardboard mount, accompanied by the original frame's gallery label Garelick's Gallery in Detroit.

The painting 23.4cm x 31.4cm, 35.5cm x 42.5cm including the mount