A Band of Folk Musicians Giving Formal Performance

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This fine cloth painting represents a band of Rajasthani folk musicians playing fully absorbed on their indigenous musical instruments, the dholak, a two-sided small drum, the khanjari, a small tambourine and the khadatal, an instrument made of the strips of wood. The male musician is obviously the master of the band whereas the two female instrumentalists his disciples. A typical red printed turban, colourful sash, bangles on arms, rings on ears, a loose angarkha type kurta and above all a robust beard characterize the old man as Rajasthani and the bindi or the saffron mark on his forehead, impressive face and powerful eyes his masterly status. He is playing on drum, the principal instrument of the band, and his disciples are accompanying him on tambourine and khadatal.

The two female musicians, though the one of the fair complexion and the other of dark, have alike attractive features, or rather the dark complexioned one has more sharp features and is more cute of the two. Her ear-ring inlaid with a large coral, in its contrast to her complexion, further enhances her beauty. They both have elongated eyes full of brilliance and shaped like a khanjan, the wagtail bird. The fair complexioned maid is putting on in typical Rajasthani fashion red bangles made of lac and the other the white ones of bone. Their lehangas, the long skirts, blouses and odhanis, the large size scarfs, in their deep tones of red, purple and deep green with batik prints have Rajasthani character. They are putting on inlaid and enamelled anklets and necklaces. The benda, a large ornament cast like a big flower worn on forehead, inlaid with a big piece of coral, is most typical to the land of Rajasthan. Their blouses cover their arms almost to elbows but leave their breasts partially exposed. The artist has put every effort in rendering his figures on Rajasthani model and adding to music the aestheticism of their exceptionally beautiful faces, that is, an effort to feast both, the eyes and the ears.

The performance appears to be a feast of rural delicacies to a royal palate. As suggests the background, a palatial terrace covered with a roof supported upon corrugated arches, a garden of tall deep green trees and the sky above and a rich red carpet laid over a marble floor, the venue of performance is a royal resort and obviously the band of musicians is performing for a royal personage or gathering. The neat and formal costumes and appropriate ornaments too are suggestive of a formal performance.

This description by Prof. P.C. Jain and Dr. Daljeet. Prof. Jain specializes on the aesthetics of literature and is the author of numerous books on Indian art and culture. Dr. Daljeet is the curator of the Miniature Painting Gallery, National Museum, New Delhi. They have both collaborated together on a number of books.