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Name of story:  Paintings of Hanuman Temple, Alwar
Site name:  Hanuman Temple, Alwar
Article by:  Shreeya Rawat


PAINTINGS OF HANUMAN TEMPLE, ALWAR

 

Hanuman Ji ka Mandir is situated at Agar village in Alwar district of Rajasthan. The temple was constructed in the 18th century and is built on a rectangular plan. The temple hall has a three-bay entrance with semicircular arches and a cornice which is used for conducting prayers. It is divided into two sections by a huge semi-circular arch. The walls of the hall and the ceiling of the Shiva temple are adorned with some beautiful paintings. 


The paintings of this temple belong to the Rajasthani Dhundhar School of art having a combination of both Rajput and Mughal elements along with a tinge of local art styles. These paintings are made in the tempera technique in which pigments are mixed with a binding medium and applied on a dry lime plaster. The walls of the prayer hall are decorated with 24 incarnations of Lord Vishnu and figurative paintings of Shiva, Hanuman and Ganesha. The theme of the paintings is based on the life of Lord Krishna and the epic tale of Ramayana.




The paintings on the ceiling of the garbhagriha are beautifully illustrated with Maharaas, depicting the amorous dance when Krishna created each of his form to dance along with each of the gopis. Other themes which dominate the ceiling are floral-leaf motifs with decorative designs.



One of the paintings portray the battle scene wherein Lord Rama and his army are engaged in fighting with Ravana. Both Rama and Ravana are riding chariots, holding sword in one hand and bow and arrow in the other hand respectively. Hanuman is also depicted in the painting fighting against the devils along with his troop of monkeys.


Another scene from the Ramayana depicts the coronation ceremony of Lord Rama when he returned to Ayodhya after defeating Ravana.


In one of the paintings, Lord Shiva is portrayed as sitting on a tiger skin and a snake around his neck. He is accompanied by Nandi, Ganesha, Kartikeya on the right and Lord Brahma, Goddess Parvati on the left side. River Ganga flows from his hair locks.


One of the paintings on the interior walls of the garbhagriha portrays a scene of Krishna lifting Mount Govardhan. It describes the incident when Lord Indra was infuriated to know that the inhabitants of the Braj do not worship him anymore. As such he decided to punish them by showering rain and thunderstorms for several days. The people of the Braj were caught in a helpless situation and approached Krishna for help. Towards the centre of the painting, Krishna is depicted as lifting the Mount Govardhan with his little finger that provided shelter to all the villagers along with their cattle. To the right of Krishna, Lord Indra is shown kneeling down before him along with his elephant Airavat, after realising his mistake.

 

The structure is suffering due to lack of maintenance and there are structural cracks, loss of plaster and water seepage issues that require immediate attention. Human intervention in the form of vandalism, graffiti marks and structural changes such as installation of electrical fixtures, drilling of holes and nails are observed on the painted surface wall which hinders the beauty of these paintings. Necessary steps need to be taken for their protection and conservation.

 

REFERENCES

Books

1.     Melton Gordon J, (2011) ‘Religious Celebrations – An Encyclopedia of holidays, festivals, solemn observances and spiritual commemorations, published by ABC-CLIO

2.   Goswami B.N, (2014) ‘The Spirit of Indian Painting’, Penguin Books Ltd.

3.   Anand D, (1992), ‘Krishna – The Living God of Braj’ by Abhinav Publications.

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