God is in the details

The museums justopened renovated Miniature Painting Gallery showcases paintings that make your jaw drop at their attention to detail a 2000 yearold Persian translation of the Panchatantra and a computer kiosk that lets you try your hand at miniature motifs on a greeting card to carry homeTheres more than just one good reason to head to the recently renovated first floor of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya which reopened less than a fortnight ago on August 12 The Miniature Painting Gallery gives you a glimpse of paintings that date as far as the fourth century as well as of the legendary composermusician Miyan Tansen who was known as one of the jewels of Emperor Akbars court Here you can also admire a centuriesold copy of the Panchatantra and take a look at an installation of the Zenana or harem of the Mughal times Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya is among the citys betterknown Grade I heritage buildings The museum was built to commemorate the Prince of Wales later King George V visit to India on 11 November 1905 He laid the foundation stone offers Sabyasachi Mukherjee director of the museumThe paintings from the fourth century were created at a time when palm leaves served as canvases Paper did not come to India until the 14 century says Sabyasachi Mukherjee director of the museum The paintings are stored in special conservationfriendly cases to control humidity levelsu00a0These cases prevent the paintings from ageing or catching fungus that can sometimes be a result of fluctuations in temperature The paintings depict scenes from everyday life as well as portraits of known personalities Looking at them we can learn about the lifestyle social history and economic background of the people at the time explains Mukherjeeu00a0Paintings from Western India Eastern India Mughal Rajasthan and Pahadi schools find representation here A striking feature of miniature painting is the attention to detail We have been able to identify every species of tree shown here says Mukherjee pointing to one of the paintings depicting a courtyard scene There is also a portrait of the legendary Miyan Tansen considered among the greatest poets and musicians of Hindustani classical music There arent too many portraits of Tansen and not many people know what he looked like says MukherjeeHighlights of the display include a 2000year old copy of the Panchatantra translated into Persian In the attempt to make the collection relevant to modern times folks at the museum have created an installation of the Zenana the part of the palace or house reserved for the women of the household alongside the painting itself Fabrics and weapons from the period lie encased in boxes above the paintings they are relevant to and towards the centre of the gallery you can see the tools used by artists to draw their masterpieces Theres also a stepbystep guide to drawing your own miniature with details on the dyes used Did you know for instance distilling animal urine made the yellow dyeu00a0The gallery also has a computer kiosk where you can learn about the fundamentals of miniature painting as well as the history of the time Before leaving the gallery you can create your own souvenir either by stamping a greeting card with a motif of your choice for a nominal charge of Re 1 or run a stylus electronic pen over a stencil to create your own miniature masterpiece that costs Rs 10 for a printoutu00a0At Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya MG Road Shahid Bhagat Singh Marg Kala Ghoda Fort Call 22844484Nainsukh was among the few miniature painters known to sign his name not a convention of the time His paintings were done under the patronage of Raja Balwant Singh 17421763 CE of Jammu or Jasrota Nainsukh devotedly recorded the everyday activities of Raja Balwant Singh who is depicted being shaved here He immortalised the otherwise littleknown king through his portraits depicting him in various moods and activitiesANWARISUHAYLI is a Persian translation by Vaiz Kashifi of KalilahwaDamnah an Arabic version of the Panchtantra Akbar disapproved of the florid language of AnwariSuhayli and later got it translated into a simpler version called IyariDanish