The Churning of the Cosmic Ocean
From Bhagavata Purana, from Mysore in Karnataka
19th Century, Water colour on Paper
The Churning of the Cosmic Ocean to bring forth life is a epic story from Bhagavata Purana. The story survived its life through passage of time with modus operandi being Indian traditional painting which is mostly religious in theme. Different locations within India have seen influences of local artists & common styles of painting in bringing life to this story. The selected painting is of early 19th century from Mysore, which is very close to the great Vijayanagara Empire, but very often this style of drawing, overall colour scheme, details shows close resemblance to Tanjore style of painting which is much more famous from Karnataka. Although the characterizations of the story is similar, but the overall effect in much more muted.
The painting displays number of characters from devas who are forces of goodness to asuras the demons of darkness. The event starts with the assemblage of devas and asuras at the very moment of need when Shri, the goddess of wealth and fortune disappeared from earth. Since the world was abandoned of joy, the devas and asuras came along as Vishnu coaxed them to conjoin their efforts to churn her out of the cosmic ocean. Under Vishnu’s instruction, the bird king Garuda carried Meru, the mountain king, to the centre of the ocean to serve as the spindle of the churn. Akupara, the turtle king, prevented the mountain from sinking. The serpent king Vasuki, wound himself round the mountain for the devas who caught his tail and the asuras who grabbed his neck to begin churning the ocean. During the churning of the Cosmic ocean, all the poison of selfishness surfaced which threatened life on earth. Neither gods nor demon knew how to get rid of it, then Lord Shiva drank it himself to save the world, but his consort Paravti put her hands around his neck to keep the poison from going down his throat. Finally the ocean frothed to reveal the delightful goddess Shree and a pot of amrita emerged which both the devas and asuras fought over. Following the fight, Vishnu took his female avatar of Mohini to distract the asuras while she poured the drink down the throats of the devas. Thus the devas defeated the asuras for life and claimed the treasures of the ocean for themselves.
This style of Mysore painting is still a very common practice by local artist. The important features of this painting would the linear arrangement of the devas and asuras on the two ends of the canvas to narrate the story. The space has been divided thoughtfully to accommodate earth, ocean surface and the sky although the canvas is an elongated landscape format. The facial features are distinct, which are sharply done with black outline for eyes, lips, the crown for the devas. The pinnacled crowns are very common to define social hierarchy with respect to the importance of the character. The proper body structure of all the characters symbolize power or physical strength of each which is used in churning the cosmic ocean. The central focus of the painting is maintained well by the orientation of the two groups with every character visually connected to the central figure standing on the tortoise.
Reference Reading
1. The Presence of Shiva by Stella Kramrisch
2. Hindu myths a source book by Wendy Doniger, Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty
3. The Hindu World by Sushil Mittal, G. R. Thursby
4. Hindu Art by T. Richard Blurton
5. Exploring India’s sacred art: selected writings of Stella Kramrisch
From Bhagavata Purana, from Mysore in Karnataka
19th Century, Water colour on Paper
The painting displays number of characters from devas who are forces of goodness to asuras the demons of darkness. The event starts with the assemblage of devas and asuras at the very moment of need when Shri, the goddess of wealth and fortune disappeared from earth. Since the world was abandoned of joy, the devas and asuras came along as Vishnu coaxed them to conjoin their efforts to churn her out of the cosmic ocean. Under Vishnu’s instruction, the bird king Garuda carried Meru, the mountain king, to the centre of the ocean to serve as the spindle of the churn. Akupara, the turtle king, prevented the mountain from sinking. The serpent king Vasuki, wound himself round the mountain for the devas who caught his tail and the asuras who grabbed his neck to begin churning the ocean. During the churning of the Cosmic ocean, all the poison of selfishness surfaced which threatened life on earth. Neither gods nor demon knew how to get rid of it, then Lord Shiva drank it himself to save the world, but his consort Paravti put her hands around his neck to keep the poison from going down his throat. Finally the ocean frothed to reveal the delightful goddess Shree and a pot of amrita emerged which both the devas and asuras fought over. Following the fight, Vishnu took his female avatar of Mohini to distract the asuras while she poured the drink down the throats of the devas. Thus the devas defeated the asuras for life and claimed the treasures of the ocean for themselves.
This style of Mysore painting is still a very common practice by local artist. The important features of this painting would the linear arrangement of the devas and asuras on the two ends of the canvas to narrate the story. The space has been divided thoughtfully to accommodate earth, ocean surface and the sky although the canvas is an elongated landscape format. The facial features are distinct, which are sharply done with black outline for eyes, lips, the crown for the devas. The pinnacled crowns are very common to define social hierarchy with respect to the importance of the character. The proper body structure of all the characters symbolize power or physical strength of each which is used in churning the cosmic ocean. The central focus of the painting is maintained well by the orientation of the two groups with every character visually connected to the central figure standing on the tortoise.
Reference Reading
1. The Presence of Shiva by Stella Kramrisch
2. Hindu myths a source book by Wendy Doniger, Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty
3. The Hindu World by Sushil Mittal, G. R. Thursby
4. Hindu Art by T. Richard Blurton
5. Exploring India’s sacred art: selected writings of Stella Kramrisch
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