Shiva and Parvati Playing Chaupar - Devidasa of Nurpur

A classic Pahari miniature painting depicting Shiva and Parvati playing a traditional board game on a tiger skin, rendered in the Basohli style.

This work is a folio from the Rasamanjari series, attributed to the artist Devidasa of Nurpur. It depicts the Hindu deity Shiva and his consort Parvati engaged in a game of chaupar, a traditional board game similar to ludo. The figures are seated upon a large tiger skin, which serves as their mat, set against a flat, monochromatic yellow background that is characteristic of the Basohli style of Pahari painting.

Shiva is rendered with his traditional attributes, including ash-smeared skin and a serpent coiled around his neck. Parvati sits opposite him, dressed in traditional attire. The composition is balanced and symmetrical, with two stylised trees framing the central figures. The artist employs a bold, saturated palette, using the yellow ground to make the white form of Shiva and the red garments of Parvati stand out clearly. The border of the painting is a deep, earthy red, which provides a frame for the scene.

The Rasamanjari, or 'Bouquet of Delight', is a Sanskrit text that classifies types of lovers and their emotional states. In this specific illustration, the domestic intimacy of the divine couple is presented with a directness typical of the period. The figures are depicted in profile, a convention of Indian miniature painting that prioritises clarity of form over anatomical realism. The stylised treatment of the trees and the tiger skin demonstrates the decorative approach favoured by the Nurpur and Basohli workshops of the late seventeenth century. This print captures the precise line work and the flat, graphic quality of the original manuscript page, preserving the aesthetic choices of the artist.