The Churning of the Cosmic Ocean
Time Frame: 19th Century
From Bhagavata Purana, from Mysore in Karnataka
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
