“She danced and danced with melting heart- Sang song after song eyes brimming with tears- Searching everywhere crying “Narasingha”- She wilts and fades this maiden young.”
This earnest verse from the famed Tamil Bhakti poet Nammalvar narrates the condition of a youthful maiden in love with Vishnu(Narasimha), dancing in his pious court- the temple, transcending the human realm in the sweetness of Sringara-Bhakti, the romantic devotion whose delicate appeal has been stunningly brought to life in this acrylic painting by artist Ranjit Sarkar. A warming union of two profoundly beautiful Rasa (emotive juices) in literature and art, Sringara-Bhakti in paintings is best portrayed by alluring maidens dancing in the Sabhagara (assembly hall) or Nata-Mandira (dance temple) of an ancient shrine.
The dancing lady draped in silken red traditional sari pops out from a muted background, created skillfully by the use of a multitude of colorful tints. Above her dynamic pose, a towering temple structure, with the sculpture of a dancing lady in the middle and two robust pillars is employed to enrich the acrylic painting with the Rasa of Bhakti that lives in every corner of a Hindu shrine. Completing and complementing the devotional elements is the dancing lady, who can be identified with a Mahari- a temple woman in the shrines of Orissa, from her distinctive white jewelry known as Tarchasi in Oriya. The custom of Mahari or Devadasi (she who is devoted to Deva or god) in Orissa was an ancient tradition, where young women surrendered their beauty and being to the service of the Lord of the sanctum and attended them by cleaning the temple, making floral decoration, preparing food, singing to the Lord and dancing in their assembly. With the growth of temple dancers, the traditions of classical Indian dances emerged as well. One of these temple dances is the emotive and visually enthralling Odissi, which the lady in this painting is stirringly performing.
The lady wears a Chudamani (head ornament) fashioned out of cowries from the seashore, Tikka and Alaka on her head, Kaan or Kapa in her ears, necklaces, armbands, bracelets, and Bengapatiya (girdle) around her shapely waist. With her left hand, she dotingly holds the endpiece or Pallu of her sari while her right hand is raised in a gesture of amusement or coyness. The stance of the Nartaki (dancer) and the movement captured in her hand holding the sari and her braid that flows behind her add to this acrylic painting an aesthetic dynamism. Her fish-shaped eyes, wide open, and her lovely lips breaking in a sweet smile are painted with such detailing that her face seems to be brimming with animation that overflows out of the canvas.
The grey stone structure behind and above the dancing lady stained with pink, green, yellow, and blue hues reveals the divine icon of a Nartaki in stone. Upon a focused interaction with the canvas, the subject of this vibrant painting appears to have emanated from the icon, embodying the ethereal beauty of the Devangana (divine lady) in her form. Or, is the grey figure representing the soul of the dancing lady, whose gorgeous body twirls in front of her Lord in the sanctum, while her inner self (aatma) ascends in the ecstasy of the dance, transcending the limits and rules of the mortal world, on its way to be united with the cosmic consciousness.
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