The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 25, 2024
Jailer Receiving the Mahant of Tarakeshwar in Prison
c. 1890
Painting only: 45 x 28 cm (17 11/16 x 11 in.)
Location: not on view
Description
The Tarakeshwar murder case of 1873 was a public scandal in Calcutta (now Kolkata). It concerned an affair between Elokeshi, a young wife, and the chief priest of the Shiva temple at Tarakeshwar. Having learned about the affair, her jealous husband cut Elokeshi’s throat with a fish knife on May 27, 1873. In the subsequent trial, the husband, Banerji, was sentenced to life imprisonment and the priest was fined and imprisoned for three years. Several Bengali plays and Kalighat images were inspired by this affair and depicted events that did not actually occur but were imagined by the artist. Here the adulterer, the Mahant (head priest), is depicted roped to an Indian jailer and presented to an English (or Anglo-Indian) warden. The warden sits in a black chair, wearing an English top hat and holding in his right hand the Mahant’s warrant of commitment for adultery. Both the warden and jailer wear British-styled buckled shoes.- ?-2003William E. Ward [1922-2004], Solon, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art2003-The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Indian Gallery 242b Rotation – November 2017-April 2018. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (November 10, 2017-April 16, 2018).Indian Kalighat Paintings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 1-September 18, 2011).Cleveland Museum of Art, (5/1/11-9/18/11); "Indian Kalighat Paintings"
- {{cite web|title=Jailer Receiving the Mahant of Tarakeshwar in Prison|url=false|author=|year=c. 1890|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2003.105