SidhSenSiva_MDI

 

Raja Sidh Sen as a manifestation of Shiva
Mandi, Punjab Hill State, India, Western Himalayas, c. 1725
Size: 271 * 182 mm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Artist: Unknown
Inscription: In Takari - Sri Maharaja Sidh Sen Saheb Bahadur, Vali-i Rayasat Mandi likhaa subh ji

 

“I am the Brahman alone which, after being understood in its true aspect, entirely burns into bhasma (ash) the ignorance of considering this universe to be real and separate from one’s own Self, through the destructive fire that burns at the time of the dawning of the right knowledge”

This wisdom from Bhasmajabala Upnishad, the ancient Hindu scripture which describes the sacred Bhasma and Rudraksha beads as symbols for body art, manifests in the ash smeared portrait of that illustrious ruler Sidh Sen of Mandi shown with the iconography of Shiva. In this magnificent painting, the master artist from Mandi aims to present not the outward appearance of things but the inner significance and expression of character of that great King who had larger than life sway over his people  and who was revered by them as a symbol of divinity. An extraordinary devotee of Shiva and his consort Devi Parvati, he practiced the knowledge of tantra and is supposed to possess supernatural powers to heal his people from adversity and to travel in a whiff to the banks of that divine river Ganges in the city of light - Kashi. Notwithstanding these qualities of a numinous world, he was a great warrior, an able administrator and his small kingdom of Mandi in the western Himalayas was most powerful under his reign of 47 years upto c.1727. All this had given him a stature of Godness, of Rudra, of that great yogi and the ultimate Brahman.

Since pre-historic times Kingships were sacred as religion was totally connected with the whole existence of the individual as well as that of the community and therefore there could be no kingdom that was not in some sense sacral. The King was seen as a possessor of supernatural powers or divine or the agent of the sacred. In the Hindu world there was Devraja or Chakravartin Kings both deriving the concept from that very root of sacred kingships. It was generally Vishnu, in the form of Chakra, who was held as the ideal of worship for kings or they being his representative so as to obtain sovereignty – the wheels or the chakra of that chariot of Sovereignty moving without obstruction. But Sidh Sen chooses to be a Shiva, that ultimate yogi who is a paradox in form and action but representing that transcendental reality. Sidh Sen shown as a manifestation of Shiva is not surprising for his devotion to this Lord of mountains was immense, yet the master painter appears taking a cue from the old Hindu scriptures when he minutely introduces that Dharamchakra of Vishnu in the left hand of the king.

Sidh Sen was a behemoth and has been accordingly depicted by the master painter with that velocity and energy - long arms, strong chest, legs as of an elephant and giant feet resting on khadaon or wooden slippers. He wears a short  orange coloured dhoti with black stripes covering short of his strong thighs and a lion skin draped over his right shoulder. A beautiful green and gold striped turban with a small jigha (gold broach) and that favourite Datura flower of his beloved deity adorns his head. The king is bejewelled both with the ornaments of the material world and that of a yogi when he is shown wearing a necklace of ruby and a garland of the bilva patra and rudraksh giving that experience of travelling in a congruent world. The tantric tilak on his forehead and the tripundara marks made of ash over his physical frame shows his devotion to that synthesis of the male and the female energies of the Universe represented by Mahadev and Devi Parvati who were so dear to him. The physical display is further made up of the usual iconography of Shiva and conveys that strong message of Shiva’s threefold power of will (icchasakti), knowledge (jnanasakti) and action (kriyasakti) which were so evidently manifested in Sidh Sen. And not to forget the famous gutka or the magical amulet, which gave him the supernatural powers,  hanging at the centre of his lion chest on a black thread. When dying he threw the amulet into River Beas, lest it fell into wrong hands. The truth of the amulet, if questioned by a scientific mind, maybe lies in the sharp mind and exceptional intelligence vis-a-vis his people which resulted in uniform success in his actions. This intelligent mind in a way represents that Brahman.

Sidh Sen has been represented and portrayed time and again by his painters in Mandi: as a Shiva, making bhang in the company of the divine couple, worshipping the Mahavidyas, as a Vasudeva carrying the little Krishna on his head crossing the mighty Yamuna, standing erect with a sword, out with implements of worship, seated smoking a huqqa, telling rudraksh beads, in a court, sitting near the banks of river Ganga, supervising a military campaign with his commanders and numerous others with all having their own majesty. Each time, however, the painters seem to have decided, while portraying their patron, to turn...... to attributes by which he can be recognised- of a mahapurusha, a great or a superhuman man¹.

This painting comes with its typical style of coarseness and dullness in application of pigments as was practiced in the court of Mandi during 18^th C.  The bodily hair given by a touch of shading is found in quite a few other Mandi paintings of that period. The plain blue background with green flooring  and red border is also so typical of the Mandi Hand. The sharpness of the eyes, the long moustache and the usual stubble beard of the King gives a look of grandeur and perfection. The perfection which Shiva represents in the ultimate Brahman.

 

1.       1. The Spirit of Indian Painting – B.N.Goswamy

 

To be continued...... In  the second part a portrait of Sidh Sen in full regalia has been discussed

The Missing Link in Pahari Paintings - Lokinder Bisht