Baramasa:The Month of Bhadaun

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In paintings, as well as in verses, Bhadaun, the sixth month of the Indian calendar falling sometime around the period from mid-August to mid-September, the concluding part of the monsoon season, has been visualised as the month of dark clouds enshrouding the entire sky rendering it completely dark except what of it brightens with lightening. It has been visualised as the month when roaring clouds and thunder and lightening rend the sky, and the earth is submerged under waters which torrential rains pour all around. The fierce winds blow under which not merely the mighty trees bow but even the unshakable mountains shake. Jackals and wild dogs moan, cicadas chirp, lions and tigers roar and out of fury the untamed elephants fell trees and create havoc around them. The days are hardly any brighter than the dark nights and one’s own home alone gives some respite and shelter. The wise ones advise not to leave home in the month of Bhadaun for it would be like relinquishing nectar and inhaling poison.

Rendered using the famed Bikaner style of Rajasthani miniatures prevalent around the mid-eighteenth century, this Baramasa folio is a splendid work of art and a fine specimen of Bikaner’s gentle colour-tones. Well defined faces, a somewhat crowded background but well-balanced and not without adequate breathing spaces, soft colours with one defusing into the other and elaborately chiseled details are simply outstanding. It portrays the month of Bhadaun exactly as it has been described in texts. There ooze from steel-grey clouds that cover the sky from one end to other not merely rains but also emits a sheet of darkness which envelops the entire space in between the earth and the sky. The multi-hued serpentine courses of lightening rend the sky above, and the roaring sounds that the agitated elephants while felling trees and angry lions produce cleave the earth below. Even the wild dog is fed up of constant noise, frequent lightening and deprivation of its liberties to move in open and raises its voice in protest. Washed with showers not merely the leaves of trees and plants but also the hills and their rocks look lustrous and bright.

In the terrace pavilion the Lord Krishna-like attired hero, obviously a prince or a royal personage, is convincing his beloved to let him go on his errand but, as suggests the gesture of her hands, she argues for the contrary. She is not convinced as to how he can think of moving out of his house and away from her when just outside the palace the stream is in full flood and even the male peacock is not thinking of deserting its loved one for food. One of her maids is holding out to the peacock couple a bowl filled with rice to ensure that the birds keep staying where they are, which besides being a good omen helped her mistress in convincing her lord that the loving ones do not desert each other in a month like Bhadaun.

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.