“Royal Hunt,” folio from a Mahabharata, 1800–1850, Western India, Maharashtra, Paithan or northern Karnataka, Ink and opaque watercolor on paper, 12 1/4 x 17 1/8 in. (31.1 x 43.5 cm), Paintings, The numerous battles that feature in the Mahabharata, one of the two epic Sanskrit poems of ancient India, provided traditional painters with a wealth of imagery. These narratives, together with the universal Indian desire to celebrate the hero-warrior (vira), combined in a distinctive genre of painting traditionally associated with the town of Paithan, near Aurangabad in Maharashtra.
“Royal Hunt,” folio from a Mahabharata, 1800–1850, Western India, Maharashtra, Paithan or northern Karnataka, Ink and opaque watercolor on paper, 12 1/4 x 17 1/8 in. (31.1 x 43.5 cm), Paintings, The numerous battles that feature in the Mahabharata, one of the two epic Sanskrit poems of ancient India, provided traditional painters with a wealth of imagery. These narratives, together with the universal Indian desire to celebrate the hero-warrior (vira), combined in a distinctive genre of painting traditionally associated with the town of Paithan, near Aurangabad in Maharashtra