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A Prince Performs Austerities (recto); Shiva and His Followers Return to Mount Kailash (verso), from a Romance of Chandrabhanu and Lavanyavati of Upendra Bhanja (1670–1740)
1700s
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
In this illustration from the beginning of a popular romance, a prince performed intense austerities and devotions to the Shiva linga in order to obtain a divine woman. He practices yoga surrounded by fires during the hot season and wanders unsheltered during monsoon, as seen on the recto. On the verso, Shiva has answered his prayers and returns home to his "cave on Mount Kailash," as stated in the inscription.
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Details
- Title: A Prince Performs Austerities (recto); Shiva and His Followers Return to Mount Kailash (verso), from a Romance of Chandrabhanu and Lavanyavati of Upendra Bhanja (1670–1740)
- Date Created: 1700s
- Physical Dimensions: Leaf: 5.1 x 41 cm (2 x 16 1/8 in.)
- Provenance: Catherine Glynn Benkaim and Barbara Timmer, Beverly Hills, CA, partial sale and gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Type: Painting
- Rights: CC0
- External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/2018.175
- Medium: gum tempera and lampblack on palm leaf
- Inscriptions: kailasakandara, 1, e pancagni gartta acchi, e rajāpua tapasā kari sivapūjā kari acchi, agni jalum accchi
- Fun Fact: There is a three-legged yogi on the verso.
- Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
- Culture: Eastern India, Odisha (formerly Orissa)
- Credit Line: Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund
- Collection: Indian Art
- Accession Number: 2018.175
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