The Story of "Shakuntala" is one of the most prominent and sought after stories of Mahabharata. I'm not getting into the details of the story as anybody interested can go through this famous Indian Mythology only by typing "Shakuntala" in any search engine. In short this story is all about rejuvenating lost love between Shakuntala and King Dushyanta.
Shakuntala & Dushyanta -The main characters
My painting depicts the time when King Dushyanta fell in love with Shakuntala at first sight. Kavi Kalidasa had given a vivid and wonderful description of this moment in his epic "Shakuntalam". But that is not the sole reason for me to choose this subject for painting. I have a completely different source of inspiration and I want to share it here.
Shakuntala's friends - Peacock and the deers
My Father gifted me the first six volumes of "Saradindu Amanibus" in my 14th Birthday. From then onwards Saradindu Bandhyapadhyay became one of my Favorite Bengali Authors. I have gone through most of his stories hundred of times.He literally created magic with his short stories and periodic fictions. Other than that, he is also well known for his detective novels and stories. Infact he is the creator of the cult bengali detective character "Byomkesh Bakshi". For most Bengali teenagers, perhaps Feluda is their favorite Detective Character but for me it has always been Byomkesh .
My inspiration imbibed from one of the famous Byomkesh Stories named "Banhi-patanga" in which Byomkesh solved the case from a painting of Shakuntala. You can go through the story or see the hindi telefilm version of the same in youtube if you want. A brief synopsis of the story is as follows - The female lead character named Shakuntala in this story was young and beautiful who married a rich, old man for his wealth by leaving her old college day boyfriend. Shakuntala's husband was poisoned and there comes Byomkesh to solve the case. From the beginning it was clear that Shakuntala has a secret admirer, but who was he? It was quite impossible to guess that and Byomkesh also had a hard time in solving the murder case. The nature of any secret affair is that the lovers can't share their mutual feelings and wonderful moments with friends and family in a bid to protect their coveted love affair. However there is always an insatiable appetite to express the same in a different way. Here also Shakuntala, once drew a picture from Kalidasa's "Shakuntala" where Shakuntala was sitting on a rock and King Dushyanta was stalking at her. But the eyes of Dushyanta was blue which was quite uncommon for Indians. It was a beautiful picture and nobody can have any doubt from it. However when Byomkesh saw the picture he noticed the blue eyes from a different perspective. The painting was not just a beautiful picture for him, rather it was the main key to solve the case. Only one person among all the main suspects / characters involved had blue eyes and with further investigation it was found that he was the one who was actually Shakuntala's old college days boyfriend cum the culprit of the heinous crime.
Natural earthy surroundings
Well, My Dushyanta is not blue eyed ! But this part of the story impressed me so much that I had always wanted to recreate the same painting in my own way. I chose to cast these famous mythological characters in natural earthy surroundings; a depiction commonly adopted by the Indian "calender-art" and ancient mythological literature.
Shakuntala and Dushyanta
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SHIPPING:The print will be shipped within 3 working days of confirming payment. It will be received in a transparent file inside a sturdy envelope through PRIORITY US Post (with tracking) and should reach you within 2-3 days of shipping.
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Please Do not print, copy or use this art-work without my knowledge. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License. (for details about this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/in/ )
Shakuntala & Dushyanta -The main characters
My painting depicts the time when King Dushyanta fell in love with Shakuntala at first sight. Kavi Kalidasa had given a vivid and wonderful description of this moment in his epic "Shakuntalam". But that is not the sole reason for me to choose this subject for painting. I have a completely different source of inspiration and I want to share it here.
Shakuntala's friends - Peacock and the deers
My Father gifted me the first six volumes of "Saradindu Amanibus" in my 14th Birthday. From then onwards Saradindu Bandhyapadhyay became one of my Favorite Bengali Authors. I have gone through most of his stories hundred of times.He literally created magic with his short stories and periodic fictions. Other than that, he is also well known for his detective novels and stories. Infact he is the creator of the cult bengali detective character "Byomkesh Bakshi". For most Bengali teenagers, perhaps Feluda is their favorite Detective Character but for me it has always been Byomkesh .
My inspiration imbibed from one of the famous Byomkesh Stories named "Banhi-patanga" in which Byomkesh solved the case from a painting of Shakuntala. You can go through the story or see the hindi telefilm version of the same in youtube if you want. A brief synopsis of the story is as follows - The female lead character named Shakuntala in this story was young and beautiful who married a rich, old man for his wealth by leaving her old college day boyfriend. Shakuntala's husband was poisoned and there comes Byomkesh to solve the case. From the beginning it was clear that Shakuntala has a secret admirer, but who was he? It was quite impossible to guess that and Byomkesh also had a hard time in solving the murder case. The nature of any secret affair is that the lovers can't share their mutual feelings and wonderful moments with friends and family in a bid to protect their coveted love affair. However there is always an insatiable appetite to express the same in a different way. Here also Shakuntala, once drew a picture from Kalidasa's "Shakuntala" where Shakuntala was sitting on a rock and King Dushyanta was stalking at her. But the eyes of Dushyanta was blue which was quite uncommon for Indians. It was a beautiful picture and nobody can have any doubt from it. However when Byomkesh saw the picture he noticed the blue eyes from a different perspective. The painting was not just a beautiful picture for him, rather it was the main key to solve the case. Only one person among all the main suspects / characters involved had blue eyes and with further investigation it was found that he was the one who was actually Shakuntala's old college days boyfriend cum the culprit of the heinous crime.
Natural earthy surroundings
Well, My Dushyanta is not blue eyed ! But this part of the story impressed me so much that I had always wanted to recreate the same painting in my own way. I chose to cast these famous mythological characters in natural earthy surroundings; a depiction commonly adopted by the Indian "calender-art" and ancient mythological literature.
Shakuntala and Dushyanta
Acrylic on Canvas ( 16" x 20" )
Canvas and Photo Prints
Original Painting of "Shakuntala and Dushyanta" was done in Acrylic paint. Original Painting is no more available. If you would like to order individual prints of my painting, there are a few different options listed below for you to select before ordering. All these prints are processed from a high-resolution image on archival paper / high quality canvas. The watermark will not appear on the print. It has been signed and dated at the corner of the image.
Ship prints to your home
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Canvas Gallery Wrap 5x7
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$ 30
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Canvas Gallery Wrap 8x10
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$ 40
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8x10 Photo Print
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$ 15
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$ 20
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12x16 Photo Print
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$ 25
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SHIPPING:The print will be shipped within 3 working days of confirming payment. It will be received in a transparent file inside a sturdy envelope through PRIORITY US Post (with tracking) and should reach you within 2-3 days of shipping.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Please Do not print, copy or use this art-work without my knowledge. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License. (for details about this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/in/ )
