Sultan to Maharaja: A Hindu Renaissance in 19th c. Mysore
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In an era when "nation building" is in the news, Dr. Del Bonta looks back to the British attempt to change the political environment in their far-reaching empire. They hoped to cultivate perfect "gentlemen monarchs" out of the many child rulers in India in the first half of the 19th c. Focusing on Mummadi (the 3rd) Krishnaraja (1794-1868), who was put on the throne of Mysore in 1799, Dr. Del Bonta recaps his contribution to the arts and to religion after he was deposed by the British in 1831 because of his ineptness as a ruler. Dr. Del Bonta will put this period in context and elaborate on Krishnaraja's contribution to the arts of Mysore.
The British distrust of Krishnaraja's administrative abilities was actually a boon for the history and development of the arts at the Mysore court. Krishnaraja was an accomplished author in both Sanskrit and Kannada and an important inventor of games, particularly board and card games. He was an avid patron of the arts, interested in music, literature, painting, and architecture. A devoutly religious man, his literary output includes many religious texts including his encyclopaedic compilation entitled Sri Tattva Nidhi from which the illustration of the king as a powerful guardian comes. This monumental text concerns a wide variety of subjects from religious iconography, music, and yoga to games of various types.
Robert J. Del Bonta has taught classes, lectured, and curated over a dozen exhibits at the AAM since 1978. He has published articles on subjects from Hindu and Jain sculpture and architecture to Jain, Sikh and Mughal painting, calendar art, Indian composite painting, and the art of 19th c. Karnataka, concentrating on the period of Mummadi Krishnaraja of Mysore.
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