Maharaja

I highly recommend a visit to the AGO to see the fantastic, opulent exhibition ‘Maharaja’.  Before we begin, let me explain that I am a total nerd for India.  I spent 8 months travelling through the Himalaya (India and Nepal) and it began an intoxicating love affair for the intricacies of the culture.  So much so, I eventually began to study yoga and philosphy so I could start to make sense of it all (and work out why the blue guy in those painting with dreadlocks had three eyes and 4 arms).  My journey into yoga was born from joining Diwali processions in Varanasi, the riotous colour of silk markets in Old Delhi, the meditative drone of the sarangi in Rishikesh, the serenity of holy saddhus meditating by the Ganges River, and weeks living in buddhist monastreys in Ladakh.

One of my favourite pieces in the exhibit was a 3 metre long scroll, (click here for an amazing interactive from the AGO website)  showing the procession of Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar III of Mysore on the final days of the holy Navratri celebration.  What struck me in this scroll (painted around 1825) was the incredibly level of tolerance and multiculturalism depicted.  You could clearly see people from many different castes and cultures in India: Sufi fakirs (saints), families with children, Rajhastani tribeswoman, Muslims, Jains, Christians, Devadasi (prostitutes), Europeans in top hats all jumbled together in the crowd along with the King and all his entourage.

Some of the paintings showed the devotional life of the Maharaja in private, including this beautiful painting from about 1870 showing the Maharaja of Jaipur, Ram Singh seated in quiet meditation in his yoga room!  Many of the Maharaja comissioned their favorite artists to paint them deep in meditative contemplation in an attempt to show their subjects how close they were to god.

The Maharajas generally had many wives and concubines, and they were usually forced to live in purdah or total isolation from the rest of society.  Therefore, most of the paintings were of the Maharajas hunting or holding court with their spiritual and strategic advisors.    However, there were a few miniature portraits that showed a rare glimpse into the lives of the women.  I absolutely loved this exquisite painting of Maharaja Bhup Singh and his lover snuggling under a quilt with a hookah full of, ahem, apple tobacco.  It is so sweet and intimate, and really made me think how romantic reclining on a cushion with your lover and watching a DVD can be.  I wonder what they were watching?

And then there are the jewels.  They are blow your brains apart, bedazzlers unlike anything you have ever seen before.  That canary yellow sparkler in the centre of those 5 strands of diamonds is 234 carats.  Just that one diamond! This custom from the Maharaja of Patiala in 1925 remains the largest commision ever received by Cartier, forever securing the extravagant allure of the Indian Royal Courts in western minds.  And right now, it is sitting on Dundas Street West.

What are you waiting for?  This exhibition is absolutely fantastic and you should go and see it.  It runs until April 11, 2011.