The king and the royal damsels in a boat

An unusual theme – a king paddling a boat with his queens, or any of the royal damsels, with pots on heads or in hands on board, seems to be the part of some festival or ritual tradition which mandated the monarch to himself sail his boat. Maybe, the occasion required them to visit some temple and bath the enshrining deity with the water queens carried in their pots. A long bird-like shaped boat, a tree extending all over its length, lake covered with lotuses, and judiciously used line-work impart to the painting its great aesthetic charm.