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.
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
Perfectly depicted
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