The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of June 5, 2023

A Group of Women in Ecstasy Before Madhava, from a Madhavanala Kamakandala

c. 1720

India, Bilaspur

Gum tempera and gold on paper

Page: 21.7 x 31 cm (8 9/16 x 12 3/16 in.); Image: 19.1 x 28.3 cm (7 1/2 x 11 1/8 in.)

Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2018.91

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

Mesmerized women sitting by the well are removing their jewelry.

Description

Sitting under a tree, Madhava sings in front of a group of women who came to fetch water from the well. Enchanted by his voice, the bedazzled ladies swoon and drop their clay pots. Their gaze is fixed on Madhava who is dressed as an ascetic. The backdrop is monochromatic green, and a thin blue strip denotes the sky.

Inscriptions

Inscription

Takri number: 4; Roman numeral: X-K. Ishwari Singh of Sirmur; number 189. sorathā. thakī jaraṃga nī jahī sunata nāda bisa mādha bhaī. tisatī thakī gahī gayī kāma kamī dhucadhā imano. caupai. ika trīya murachī bhumī para paraī. ika trīya gīrata ardharadhara dharaī. ek nena so nena mīlave. taji sara eka nikata calī āve. ek na paharete cīra sambhārā. vyākala bhaī chutī gaye barā. ekana bhūkhana dhare utārī. ekana taji kancukī sārī. eka nārī calī uthī saṃgā. jaise dhūnī munī cale kuraṃga. doha. kāma dhukha sara paṃca le mārī trīha tī sīṭhaī. mādhavanala mohi save saṃga pāraī kī naī.

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2018.91