Shri Brijnathji and Maharao Durjan Sal hunting

Gouache with gold on cotton cloth.

In this grand imaginary hunt, Maharao Durjan Sal (r.1723-1756) and his relatives and ancestors hunt tigers, lions and wild buffalo cornered in a ravine. Among the hunters is the blue-skinned Brijnathi, a form of Krishna whom the Kota rulers adopted as their patron deity. Similar in scale to wall-paintings of hunts in the Kota palace, this cloth-painting was probably hung in the Maharao’s tent when he was in camp.

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