A Hero Approaches a Heroine and Her Attendant, Folio from a Rasamajari (“A Bouquet of Delights”) Series

The painting features a scene from the Rasamanjari, a poetic treatise on love that describes how men and women act towards one another while they are in love, their experience with and being in love, and how they react in different situations surrounding love. Here, the hero (nayak), approaches two women. He wears a yellow turban and a pale pink robe (jama). One hand rests on the hilt of his sword, which hangs from his waist sash (patka), while the other is raised in conversation. The women stand outside a palace. The woman who is closest to the interior of the palace, with a translucent black and gold scarf wrapped around her body is the hero’s love interest, the heroine (nayika). She is accompanied by her companion (sakhi). Pahari Style.