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The Lost 18th Century Utsavamalika (Garland of Festivals) of Shri Nathji in the Jhala Ki Haveli, Garh of Kota, Rajasthan

Presenter:

· Joachim Bautze South Asia Institute, Heidelberg, i.R. (Berlin, Germany)

Timeslot:

07/26 | 16:10-16:30 UTC+2/CEST

Abstract

During his time as diwan of Kota, Jhala Zalim Singh (1730-1823) established an immense haveli within the garh of the city which still bears his name, the Jhala ki Haveli. Over the years this palace-like structure fell into decay, especially since the royal family of Kota -ardent followers of the Vallabha Sampradaya since 1720- felt overpowered by the intrigues of their former chief-minister who, in the end, secured for him and his family an independent state which had to be cut out from the territory of the state of Kota: Jhalawar. One part of the Jhala ki Haveli consists of an open rectangular court with an adjacent verandah followed by a windowless room on its eastern as well as western side. Both the walls of the verandahs as well as the windowless rooms behind are -or rather were- covered with murals dating from the last quarter of the 18th century. The western room on top of its southern and western walls show altogether 30 different shringars (set-ups) of Shri Nathji. This sequence of red bordered paintings in vertical format is only interrupted by a scene showing the divan and the young Maharao Umed Singh of Kota (1771-1819) apparently with their sons, MK Kishor Singh (b. 1781) and the son of the diwan, Shri Madho Singh (b. 1773) worshipping Shri Nathji together with the saptasvarupas on the occasion of the annakut-festival in the haveli at Nathdwara. All these scenes disappeared by 1995 but can still be documented with photographs taken earlier.