The story of Pabuji

Paintings such as this ambitiously large and complicated example are an essential component of religious traditions specific to rural Rajasthan. Such long paintings, made in Mewar, are commisioned by bard-priests known as bhopas, who perform throughout western India, traveling on camel back. Known as phads, the paintings function as backdrop of the performance, map of the story, and as shrine to the central divine hero. The condition of this well-worn scroll suggests that it was much used by an energetic bhopa, and was almost ready to be ceremonially disposed of by immersion in the sacred lake at Pushkar.

In Rajasthan, the scroll is not normally experienced by a viewer in its entirety unaccompanied by performance; thus we cannot expect that, shorn of its original performance context, it will present the story comprehensively. In the catalogue accompanying this exhibition, scholar Kavita Singh eloquently suggests that the scroll's impenetrable complexity serves to confirm the depth of tradition and the power of the priestly bhopa.

The central inscription here praises a lesser-known maharaja of Shahapura. Shahapura, a small kingdom east of Devgarh, is the home of a family of painters who are still active. The major inscription appears to record that this was painted by Jaravchand (?) Joshi of the town Shahapura, for the bhopa Nanaji.

The central hero of this epic is Pabuji, the god of the Rebaris, camel herders who in various places commission the bhopa's night-long performances. Pabuji is presented as a princely warrior, armed with a dagger and shield, holding a flower in his left hand, and facing a tall spear that is his weapon. As the largest figure in the composition, he faces his followers, who constitute his court at Kolu in the center. To the left are Umarkot, and on the very edge Lanka, distant sites to the west and south. To the right are Pushkar to the east and the court of Jindrav Khichi, a major personage in the narrative. Thus as a map, the organization of the painting is somewhat conceptual. The two edges are sites of evil: at the left we see Pabuji's confrontation with the camel-rustler Ravana and on the right Pabuji's death in battle with Jindrav Khichi. The top is the realm of the gods, from whom Pabuji descends.