The lost glory of Deogarh

Remnants of the paintings at the Deogarh fort in Rajasthan are mute testimony to the love for fine arts that the rulers of Mewar nurtured. KIRAN SONI GUPTA examines some of their themes.

DEOGARH is a small town in Rajasthan's Rajsamand district, about 125 km from Udaipur and 150 km from Ajmer. It is best known as one of the old Thikanas (feudal estates) of Mewar, steeped in the history of Rana Pratap and the battle of Haldighati. Deogarh also marks the convergence of the borders of Mewar, Marwar and Merwara. There is an imposing and magnificent fort located high up on a hillock, a relic of medieval Rajasthan, with small domes, windows, jharokhas and gateways flanked by great wooden doors and towers. Nearby lies the Raghosagar lake. The surrounding countryside is partially hilly, with igneous rocks and an undulating terrain and sparse vegetation giving the effect of a dry landscape. This place has been the stronghold of the Rawats of Deogarh for generations.

The Rawat is one of 16 umraos privileged to wait upon the Maharana of Udaipur. According to the records at Deogarh thikana, the foundation of the present town of Deogarh was laid by Rawat Dwarkadasji in 1670. The antiquity of Deogarh goes back to Chundaji who abdicated from the throne of Mewar in favour of his step-brother, Maharana Mokal.

Later, the chiefs who descended from Chundaji were granted different thikanas by the Maharanas.

The paintings of Deogarh thikana were first brought to light with the identification of some inscribed miniatures in the Prince of Wales Museum, Mumbai. The personal collection of Rawat Nahar Singh II has also unravelled the history and growth of this school of painting.

The paintings at Deogarh were not restricted to miniature paintings depicting the private and court life of the ruling Rawats. The surviving pieces on the walls of the fort are mute testimony to the love for fine arts that the rulers of Mewar nurtured. There is a striking similarity between the paintings of the Jagmandir in Pichhola Lake, Udaipur and those in the Deogarh Fort, where hunting scenes, elephant fights, darbar scenes and themes of Krishna Lila are still to be seen.

It is believed that painters from Mewar were commissioned to decorate the walls of the kapardara (a room where cloths and jewellery were kept) because of the trust between the Maharana and his feudatories, the Rawats. Such works were commissioned on important occasions. A scrutiny of these works reveals that the features depicted costume details and turbans have a close affinity to contemporary Mewar paintings. Apart from the murals of kapardara, the additional works on the walls of the Deogarh Fort are known as the Ajara-ki-ovary and Moti Mahal. From these works, there are two distinct styles and period. The earlier style is attributable to well known artist 'Chokha' and the second phase paintings to 'Baijnath', son of Chokha.

A great deal of work done at Deogarh has portrayed Rawat Gokuldas-II (1786-1821) in different scenes. Therefore, he is viewed as a dominant personage of the Deogarh school. Besides being an ardent patron of art and a valiant warrior, Col. Todd has rated him as one of the finest men he ever beheld in his Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan. The Deogarh school is basically a sub-school of Mewar and some of the other exponents of this school are Kavala, Bagta, Kunvla. Most of the paintings depict hunting and darbar scenes the Holi festival processions and aspects of the life of Chieftains besides landscapes and portrait studies.

It is indeed a sad thing to note that one hardly gets a good painter there now.

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