TWO DRAWINGS FROM THE BHAGAVATA PURANA

The style of drawing, size of the folios and identifying inscriptions in takri with folio numbers in the upper margins indicate that these two drawings were made in the workshop of the famed Pahari artist, Manaku, if not executed by his own hand. It is quite possible that these illustrations belong to a known, unfinished Bhagavata Purana series that has been estimated to comprise paintings and drawings close to a thousand folios. The drawings exhibit the same energy and vitality that is evident in the finished paintings from this series. Manaku must have taken years to finish the work and would most certainly have had assistance from other artists in his workshop. (See B.N. Goswamy and E. Fischer, Pahari Masters: Court Painters of Northern India, Museum Rietberg Zurich, 1992, pg. 245).
For other comparable drawings, see ibid., nos. 109-110, pp. 262-263; J. Seyller & J. Mittal, Pahari Drawings in the Jagdish and Kamla Mittal Museum of Indian Art, Hyderabad, 2013, nos. 11-14, pp. 38-47. In particular, nos. 13 and 14 are very similar to the present folio of gods battling demons.