India has often been a muse for artists but rarely have the vastness of her skies, the stagnancy of her waters and the grandeur of her history been captured with such precision and splendor as they have in the paintings by Sita Ram, a largely forgotten 19th century Bengali artist.
In 1814-1815, India's then Governor General Lord Francis Edward Rawdon-Hastings had embarked upon a journey upcountry from Calcutta to Punjab and back to take stock of lands under his governance. Besides his wife Lady Flora and his children, accompanying him was a massive coterie of nearly 10,000 men including Sita Ram.
It was while on this voyage that Sita Ram actualized his impressions of the Ganges in Bengal and Benaras and the monuments of Agra, Lucknow and Delhi in the form of watercolour drawings.
At least 60 from a collection of 229 never before published paintings of Colonial India by the Bengali artist are on display as part of an ongoing exhibition titled "Sita Ram / Picturesque Views of India/ Lord Hasting's Journey from Calcutta to Punjab, 1814-15," which was recently inaugurated by Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje at the newly renovated Bikaner House here.
"All those vignettes that came out when we walked around are extremely interesting. This is a treasure. Most of all I am really proud that we have been able to give back this beautiful building where no just us but so many of us will be able to enjoy," Raje said.
This unknown collection of albums formed by the marquees and marchioness of Hastings between 1813 and1823 was acquired by the British Library in London in March 1995.
The exhibition has been curated by J P Losty who was formerly Curator-in-charge of the Indian visual collections in the British Library.
Sita Ram's paintings seem to bring alive the India from the bygone era with the representations of, for instance, the Lord's convoy of boats on Ganga at different points of time in Bihar, West Bengal or Benaras, with its fading azure skies, the slightly muddy skies and barely visible settlements in the distance.
Be it was the Allahabad fort or Aurangzeb's fort rising above the Panchganga ghat in Benaras, the great Gola in Patna or the Imambara in Lucknow, the iron pillar that stands in the present Qutub Enclave or the Jami (Jama) Masjid, nearly all important monuments from different places in the journey can be seen captured in Sita Ram's distinct strokes.
For some monuments, the observant artist had not only painted the exterior monument, but had also stepped inside to represent intricate carvings and unique architectural designs on his paper.
The exhibition is inspired from a book of the same name
published by Roli Books that besides acting as a journal of Lord Hasting's 17-month-long travel from Kolkata to Punjab, also offers an insight into Sita Ram's style of paintings, which was often a, "sharp departure from the accurate 'Company' view of the Indian monuments."
From what has been deciphered from his works, Sita Ram's basic style was an indication that he was trained in the so-called Company style that originated in Murshidabad , the then Mughal capital of Bengal, after its artist largely switched from their traditional style to one more in tune with British sensibilities.
"He is certainly one of the greatest Indian artists of the 1970s and in his work we can see him getting to pick new ways to depict landscape and architecture," Losty who wasn't present at the event said in a message that he had sent across.
The show is scheduled to continue here till December 31.
