Rao Bahadur M. V. Dhurandhar (1867-1944), a Marathi artist, had many firsts to his credit... from being the first Indian principal at the JJ school of Arts to being the first Indian to be awarded the Gold Medal by the Bombay Art Society. But probably his greatest influence on the common Marathi Manoos was his famous mythological images which along with Raja Ravi Verma's creations could be seen in every second Marathi home at the start of the 20th century.
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I would like to share some images of Marathi womanhood captured by him about a century ago...
A Bhil Girl
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A Bombay Lady
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A Brahman Lady
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A Fishwife of Bombay
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A Gond Girl
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A Mahar Woman
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A Marathi Lady
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A Naikin in Karwar
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A Pathare Prabhu Lady
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This post is dedicated to my mother who regaled me as a child with stories of the "Mumbaikar way of life" that she saw in her own childhood.
Brilliant piece. Keep up the good work and give us more stuff on Marathi culture.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteNice pics, they are meant to refresh memory with Marathi culture. I accidentally stumbled upon this pics when I was trying to show one of my Puerto Rican colleague what was the dressing of Indian Women like. So this was an
excellent example.
Regards,
Rahul Bhide
Is there a reason a Bombay, Brahman, and other females were referred to as "lady" while the tribal females (Gond, Bhil) as "girl", and Mahar female as "woman" in your traditional marathi womanhood pictures?
ReplyDeleteThese are titles given by the painter himself... thanks for pointing out the difference!
ReplyDelete