Nasik Scene with Temples I

Trindade’s Nasik series – composed of three oils and five watercolours – were executed between 1930 and 1932 and give us a remarkable account of everyday rituals in India.
An open-air technique, well handled by different generations of Naturalists, Trindade’s landscapes with their rich brushstrokes, vibrant atmosphere and light are also interesting for their documental significance.
A true place of confluence, the Godavari River in the region of Panchavati, Northern Nasik is an important place of pilgrimage to Hindus. It is believed that Lord Shri Rama and Sita along with Lakshman spent many days in exile on its banks and there are about 200 temples in the area. The 500 B.C old Pandav Buddhist caves are also located here. It is also believed that the 8th Jain Tirthankara lived on these banks. In the 16th century the Mughals ruled the region and later on in the 18th century the Maratha Empire ruled this area.
Depicted several times by Trindade, the surroundings of Sri Sundar Narayan Mandir are shown in these two scenes as the core of all human activity on the banks of the Godavari River. The congestion of temples, worshipers and their preparations provided the painter with lively compositions, in which he magnificently interprets the relationship between human and the divine, as also their relationship with architecture and the natural landscape.
References: Shihandi, Marcella, et al, António Xavier Trindade: An Indian Painter from Portuguese Goa (exhibition catalogue), Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia, 1996; Tavares, Cristina Azevedo et al, António Xavier Trindade: Um Pintor de Goa (exhibition catalogue), Lisbon, Fundação Oriente, 2005; Gracias, Fátima, Faces of Colonial India: The Work of Goan Artist António Xavier Trindade (1870-1935), Panjim, Goa, Fundação Oriente, 2014.