Banaras In The Early 19th Century-Indica Book-9788186569290
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- Product Code: KAVYAIND16
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Banaras In The Early 19th Century-Indica Book
| The
riverside of the holy city of Banaras has always attracted the attention of
people. From the late eighteenth century onwards, both amateur and
professional European painters were drawn to paint the panoramic scenic
beauty of its ghats (“holy landing places”, used also for ritualistic
bathing). The ghats are a vast area of space for the religious and cultural
life of the city, serving also as the “lungs” of the thick population of the
city which they fringed. These were gradually stone-paved and steps leading
to the river were built; this trend mainly started in the second half of the
sixteenth century. This great architecture movement was initiated by the
Rajputs and subsequently followed by Maratha donors. In the present
illustration folder, the core of this chain of ghats was already built while
the flanks were yet to come. Pilgrims taking ablution in the holy waters of the Ganga, dhobis washing clothes, corpses being cremated, cows and horses roaming, and such daily scenes as can still be seen today on the banks of the river have been treated with rare insight and humour. The river is replete with many types of boats, a principal mode of locomotion, such as goods-laden boats, ferry boats, pleasure boats of different denominations with liveried boatsmen, rowing boats, sail boats, boats drawn upstream by ropes. . . . These paintings are the work of a “Company School” local painter, working in a localized tradition of British landscape water colour. The scenes are mostly naturalistic and present an authentic account of the riverfront. |
| Book | |
| ISBN | 9788186569290 |
| PUBLISHER | Indica Book |
| Pages | 24 |
| Binding | HARDCOVER |
| Edition | 2003 |
| Language | English |