c. 1740

The Divine Sage Narada Tells the Asuras of Jambha's Death

The master painter Manaku, to whom this work is attributed, helped establish the painting workshop that came to dominate the Pahari region. This drawing illustrates a verse in the eighth section of the Bhagavata Purana, which describes the advent of mankind along with the continuing battles between the devas (gods) and asuras (demons). This page shows the immortal sage Narada as he descends from a cloud to announce Jambha's death to the other demons, three of whom race onto the battlefield to avenge their kinsman.

This drawing shows the initial stages of creating a painting. First, the artist sketched the composition in charcoal, making adjustments as he proceeded. Over the charcoal sketch, he painted a complete underdrawing in black watercolor. He would then have coated the page with white primer and, following the now-faint lines of the underdrawing, created a full, detailed outline drawing, ready to be filled with color.