c. 1660-1670

Bhadrakali with Companions

The face of Devi, the Great Goddess, is benign in this vision of power. Here she drinks a glass of liquor, an important component of many tantric (magical-devotional) rituals. She rests on a huge corpse while her women honor her with a fly whisk and folded hands. This page dates from the third quarter of the seventeenth century, but its bright colors, flat background, and simple, bold composition reflect the aesthetic of indigenous northern Indian painting. The sophistication in form and technique, however, demonstrates that a painting tradition existed in the Panjab Hills region well before this time, although very little evidence of it remains.