These paintings are exquisite works of Rajasthani/Mughal painting done on marble. Rajasthani painting is a style of miniature painting very similar to Mughal paintings.

Mughal painting evolved in India during the reigns of the Mughal emperors (16th - 18th century) while Rajasthani painting evolved mainly in the independent Hindu states of Rajasthan during the same period. Mughal paintings generally focused on secular themes including depiction of the emperor and his court, flora and fauna.

Rajasthani paintings, on the other hand, following popular wave of devotionalism among the Hindus depicted legends of Hindu epics such as Lord Krishna and Radha; other difference came from their bolder use of color and ornamental treatment of landscape.

Rajasthani Turbans are known for their beauty and elegance, they are an essential part of traditional outfit and is still worn in small towns and villages of Rajasthan.

The Turban, variously called pagari, pencha, sela , or safa, depending on style, an angrakhi or achakan as upper garment, and Indian or pyjamas as the lower garment make up the male outfit.

Achieving the different styles with just a length of material requires great skill. Specialists in this art, called pagribands, were employed by the royal courts, but Rajasthanis generally take pride in practicing and perfecting the art of turban-tying themselves. A safa is much more than just an item of headgear to protect the wearer from the sun's heat.

By its shape, color and size you can tell a great deal about the man, such as where he comes from , what he does for his living, and his position in the society. A safa is about 30 feet long and about 4 feet wide. It was traditionally considered an essential part of a man's clothing, and to appear in public without one was a sign of grossly bad behavior.

The color, pattern, and style of tying a turban vary according to community, region and even district. Thus it is said that the dialect of men's turbans changes every 12 miles in Rajasthan. Some colors and patterns are seasonal, such as the white and red falguniya turban that is worn in the spring. Other signify family circumstances ; for instance, the dotted chunri pattern or bright colors signify a marriage or the birth of a child.

Each region of Rajasthan takes great pride in its own distinctive way of tying a turban. The people of Jodhpur, however , claim that the Jodhpuri turban is superior to all the rest, pointing to the fact that it has been adopted by trend-setters all over Rajasthan , from Bikaner to Jaipur.

A Royal princess comes to meet her friend (sakhi) in the dark moonlight. The people of India spend their night outside in the hot day of summer. They are seated on an open place in a garden. A lady attendant is serving wine to the princess. A lady musician is playing music on tambura. Another lady attendant fans the princess standing behind them. The small ponds of water are full with flower of roses for fragrance.

The left one: Paintings of Ragaputra Megha Malhar

In most Ragamalas Megha is the fifth or Sixth male raga. Megha, like Vasant pictures the Krishna among maidens. In Vasant the reason for rejoicing was the coming of spring and blooming. Here the arrival of the rainy season, which will break the stupendous heat, is celebrated. Megha means, “Rain cloud”. The four ladies attendants are standing near him. One serving betel, second playing tambura, third playing dholak and fourth playing cymbal in her hand. Krishna standing with veena in his hand.

The right one: Painting on Sarang Ragini (from Rajasthan).

The left one: Painting on The Offended Princess

A heroine is seating depressed in the garden at pavilion. Because her lover is not present near him. She is in red garment and blue lehanga and she wears golden pearl ornaments. The candles and Deepak are burning at a distance. Her maidservant is standing near him. Other maidservant is giving respect to her. It is the scene of dark night and the moon is shining in the sky.

The right one: Painting on Desakha Raga, Mean, a strong, bareheaded, wrestler.

The left one: Painting on Make up with Music

A princess is sitting on the bed on terrace. A maidservant-wearing anklet in her ankle. Three maidservant standing in front of her. One holding a mirror in her hand, another holding the ornaments of the princess. In the background the night is going on. The shadow of the moon is seen in the river. In the foreground the candle-stands are seen. And three lady musicians are sitting in the foreground.

The right one: Painting on a Nayika.

The left one: Pancham Putra

Dark-skinned in a yellow garment, holding in his hands betel, lotus, flute and cymbals (interpreted sometimes as four hands), the marks of sun and moon on his forehead, a diadem on his head, accompanied by Indra and Siva.

The right one: Nat Ragini

A warrior on horseback, doing battle with foot soldiers, one of which has been slain.

The left one: The sacrifical horse is released by priest

Emperor Dasaratha, the ruler of koshala, was a great and powerful hero descended from the mighty Iksvaku race. He was devoted to truth and much beloved by the people of Koshala.

But the emperor was not happy because he did not have a child. He had ruled for thousands of years and had grown tired, but still he had no heir. One day he decided to take action: he would stage the ultimate royal ceremony called asvmedha, or the horse sacrifice. Such a ritual could be undertaken only by a king of unsurpassed power, but if done according to the vedic codes with the proper Sanskrit invocations it could produce magical results and fulfill any desire. To be sure of success it was necessary to have an exalted priest in charge of the sacrifice, so the emperor sent for Rishyasringa, a fabled youth who, it was foretold had been destined specially for this task.

The most important part of the sacrifice was the horse. The horse would be the most beautiful and noble stallion possessed. At last, the horse would lose his life, again reborn in the heavenly kingdom. And the horse was released to roam freely, and after one year the horse brought back. All the kings, queens, princes, princesses, and nobles far-off lands, all bought costly gifts. Three days hymn mystic were chanted and eighteen sacred fires burned. At each step in the proceedings, mantras were chanted with the proper pronunciation and melodies.

The right one: Ragini Virari

A nayika is seated on floor in the pavilion raising her hands up. Her lady attendant fans him. She wears a transparent lehanga and golden ornaments. A peacock is sitting on the terrace shouting with joy.

The left one: The death of Bhisma

Bhisma reclines upon the bed of arrows, surrounded by the seven rishis, including Narada with the vina; Krishna, fourhanded, with mace, conch, and lotus; Yudhisthira; and the other pandavas; and Duryodhana. Bhisma, the venerable uncle of pandu and chrtarastra, and instructor of the pandavas and kauravas alike, fought on the side of the latter in the great war. On the tenth day the aged hero grew weary of the slaughter, and desired to meet his own fate. At last he fell, wounded by many arrows. When he fell from his car the hearts of all fell with him. ‘That foremost of all bowmen,that mighty-armed hero, fell down like an uprooted standard of Indra, shaking The earth as he fell. Pierced all over with arrows, his body touched not the ground. At that moment a divine nature took possession of that great bowman lying on a bed of arrows.’ The sun was then in the southern solstice, an inauspicious time for death.

Wounded as he was, Bhisma resolved to hold his life until the sun should reach the north; so, ‘having recourse to that yoga which is taught in the great Upanishads, he remained quiet, expectant of his hour.’ Subsequently Bhisma, in response to the inquiries of yudhisthira, instructed him in the four branches of knowledge at great length. The story says that when yudhisthira came to Bhisma, ‘ he lay stretched on his arrowy bed, resembling in splendour the evening sun’; like unto a fire that is about to go out’. When at last the sun turned towards the north, Bhisma gave up his life-breaths: ‘in the midst of those great-hearted men it was a marvelous thing to see’.

The right one: Royal Procession on the camel

In this painting nobles are riding on the camel. They are well dressed. A servant is standing with a long arrow on the ground. The camels are decorated. In the background a palace is seen.

The left one: Kama as Tiger

The last verse of the prahandha is a befitting culmination of the description of the outer and inner state of Radha. Jayadeva draws a picture of Radha with words that convey oceans of meaning.

Radha's home is a jungle. Her sighs fan her burning pain to flames that rage like the forest fire. She herself is the timid frightened deer, who is trying to flee from the messenger of death; the tiger who is none other than Kama, the god of love.

Jayadeva superimposes the name of the metrical pattern, the sardulavikridita chanda (the metrical pattern called by the name of the tiger) in which the verse is set. An English translation of a highly contextual simile full of literary allusions cannot do justice to the original. However, the syntax and the literal translation become necessary prerequisites for understanding the logic of pictorial format.

The sakhi and Krishna, as the pictorial counterpart of the poetic refrain is easy to understand. But how does one comprehend a hunting tiger, a whining doe, a meditating figure against a flaming tree, or for that matter, the appearance of yet another deer and an explicit fence around what may be a forest or a rock - certainly a wilderness. The motivational clues for this pictorial composition have to be sought in the imagery and the artist's method of transferring it into a cohesive painting.

The wild jungle of her house is the wild jungle of Radha's emotions. She is surrounded by these emotions. The strings of necklaces on Radha and the sakhi is one kind of net or chaining, their sitting around her as if chaining her is another kind of snare or net. The representational net is the enclosure of the forest. It is also the network of her emotions. Here the phrase malapi jalayate stirs the imagination of the artist. Like the poet, he interprets it with all the variations of the multilayered nuances of the phrase. As if not satisfied by this, the artist picks on the phrase, "She like a doe frightened by the tiger, who is (none other) the god of love Kama."

Ingeniously, a figure of Kama stands with his bow. Immediately behind him stands a proportionately large figure of a human animal (anthropomorphic) that represents death. The doe that is placed in the foreground against Radha represents her, as the frightened deer. And lastly the artist takes the phrase "Her sighs fan the flames of her desire." Radha sits in a meditative pose against an flaming tree. The banana tree divides her and the figures of Krishna and the sakhi. The banana tree is functional, but it also suggests the flames. A diminutive figure of a man in the waters below is waiting as if to cool the fire, and attain salvation.

Compositionally there are four different situations, which are condensed into one pictorial surface. Within each situation is a pictorial representation of the of the poem. The tiger and the doe, Radha and the doe, Kamadeva as the spirit of death, and Radha and the flaming tree are all expressions of Radha's inner state. These are all arranged in a curve.

The right one: Raja Balwant singh inspecting the points of horse

The minor prince Balwant Singh whom he portrayed carrying out all the daily activities of the noblemen: hunting, listening to music, inspecting a horse or simply writing a letter or preparing to go to bed.

The left one: The month of Kartik

A picture of the autumn month of kartik, from a barahmasa series illustrating the activities of noble lovers during the twelve months of the year. A noble and lady stand before a pavilion with a bedchamber, another bed is prepared on the roof. In the background a couple play at chaupar, men bathe and women draw auspicious rangoli patterns on the ground.

The right one: Noble on Elephant

In this painting a noble seated on an elephant. She is well dressed and holding a flower in his hand. Two attendants are standing on the ground holding a long arrow in their hands. Another servant is seating on the horse holding a long arrow in his hand. The elephant is well decorated. In the background the palace is seen of the noble.