Handpainted – Kalamkari – Sacred Processions in Maroon and Gold

Provenance

'Sacred Processions in Maroon and Gold' is a horizontal Kalamkari painting arranged in four long registers that read like the pages of an illustrated epic. Bands of mustard yellow carrying painted captions divide the tiers, in the manner of the great narrative cloths of the Kalamkari tradition, and the whole surface is crowded with deities, attendants, animals and processions.

At the centre, a four-armed deity sits cross-legged on a lotus within a framed shrine, the still point of the composition. Around this figure, rows of crowned and haloed figures walk, dance and gather beneath parasols and canopies; some ride horses or an elephant, others carry bows, fans and offerings. A great coiled serpent rises in the third register, and small shrines with seated figures appear at intervals. A border of white flowers on black frames the scene.

Deep maroon, cream and mustard yellow lead the palette, with touches of orange in the halos and blue in the faces of several figures. Every figure is drawn in fine, confident line with closely patterned garments, and the captioned bands give the composition a steady horizontal rhythm. It is a rich, absorbing painting for a long wall above a sofa, sideboard or bed.