PRITHVIRAJ RASO revived at Ahar Museum

An exhibition of 300-year-old paintings of "Prithviraj Raso" began at the museum of the Department of Art, Literature, Culture and Archaeology, located at Ahar, Udaipur, on the occasion of World Museum Day.

- Deepika Ravjani

Raso meaning 'rasamayi jeevani' is a representative series of paintings of the Mewar school of art, continuously created from Maharana Jai Singh's reign to Sangram Singh II. In synergy with Himanshu Singh, Superintendent of the Udaipur Circle, Department of Archaeology and Museum, 36 selected artworks from a total of 628 submissions have been thoughtfully curated and put on display.

Do you know that Kings' attributes in Rajasthan have been described by poets in the past and these serve as knowledge folios for us to conserve our heritage and history? Raso means 'rasmai jeevani'. Prithviraj Raso is considered to be the best literary document of the early period (Veeragathakal) of the Hindi language as the heroic poem of India. Prithviraj Chauhan, who has been identified by historians as the last Hindu emperor of India, is described by a court poet, Chand Bardai in this. Poet Chand Bardai has written about the expansion of Prithviraj's kingdom from Ajmer to Delhi, his battles, and about Jaichand and Sanyogita etc. His character was written in many places in the country, including Prithviraj Vijayam, Prithviraj Charitam, Prithviraj Prabandh and Alha-Udal in the Bhojpuri language. Prithviraj Raso, in the Rajasthani language, is materialised by artists in the form of paintings. Scholars are not sure of its composition period. Much of the Mewar royal Library may have perished in the Mughal sacks. According to historians, the successors of Maharana Amar Singh I were able to cultivate the arts. Prithviraj Raso is probably painted from the period of Maharana Jai Singh to the reign of Sangram Singh (17th-18th century). The other prominent painters of this period were Alabagus, Manohar and other anonymous painters. Certainly, these are beautiful examples of Mewari Kalam. The first edition of Prithviraj Raso is found in Mewar. Incidentally, the portraiture of Prithviraj Raso was also done here.

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION