A Study of the Rehabilitation Project of the Murals of Rāy Pravīṇ Mahal An Indian Palace between two Cultures

Article Sidebar

Journal cover with the journal title, Indialogs Spanish journal of India studies, a black elephant, Vol. 12 no.1. Ecofeminism
PDF (Castellano)

Main Article Content

Sara Fernández Jubín
Universidad de Salamanca
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7800-4835

The present article is part of a historical-artistic research project developed from new perspectives on cultural heritage conservation. The case study is Rāy Pravīṇ Mahal, literally, the ‘Palace [of] Rāy Pravīṇ’, who was a poet, singer and dancer linked to the Bundelā court. It is an Indian garden palace from the late 16th and early 17th centuries, located on the fortress island of Orchā, in Madhya Pradeś. The article provides a theoretical study of its pictorial legacy and, in turn, a framework for its proper rehabilitation and revitalization. In this way, it offers a comprehensive theoretical-practical approach to heritage conservation.

Keywords
Rāy Pravīṇ Mahal, Orchā, India, conservation, rehabilitation, cultural heritage, murals

Article Details

How to Cite
Fernández Jubín, Sara. “A Study of the Rehabilitation Project of the Murals of Rāy Pravīṇ Mahal: An Indian Palace between two Cultures”. Indialogs, 2025, vol.VOL 12, no. 1, pp. 179-05, doi:10.5565/rev/indialogs.319.
Rights
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

(c) Sara Fernández Jubín, 2025


Copyright

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
  1. Authors retain copyright.
  2. The texts published in this journal are – unless indicated otherwise – covered by the Creative Commons Spain Attribution 3.0 licence. You may copy, distribute, transmit and adapt the work, provided you attribute it (authorship, journal name, publisher) in the manner specified by the author(s) or licensor(s). The full text of the licence can be consulted here: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/deed.en.
  3. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  4. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
Author Biography

Sara Fernández Jubín, Universidad de Salamanca

SARA FERNÁNDEZ JUBÍN es graduada en Historia del Arte por la Universidad de Salamanca. Recientemente, ha trabajado como especialista en Historia del Arte y Conservación en la Subdelegación del Gobierno en Gipuzkoa, estudiando el patrimonio estatal de la provincia. Actualmente, se encuentra desarrollando una tesis doctoral centrada en la reconciliación entre desarrollo urbano y la conservación patrimonial, tomando como caso de estudio los cuarteles de Loiola, en Donostia/San Sebastián.

 

References

AGARWALA, R. (1977). "The Marwar murals", Artibus Asiae, Vol. 39, Nº 3/4: 268-272. https://doi.org/10.2307/3250168

AGRAWAL, O. P. (1989). Examination and conservation of wall paintings of Sheesh Mahal, Nagaur: A programme under National Project on Wall Paintings, Luck-now: INTACH Conservation Centre.

ARUNA, D. (2002). Orchha paintings, Delhi: Sharada Publishing House.

BANERJEE, P. (1986). Dance in Thumri, Delhi: Abhinav Publications.

BHARATA MUNI. (1951). Nāṭyaśāstra, Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal.

BOGIN, S. (2005). Ahhichattragarh Fort and palace complex: A preliminary survey of the wall paintings, London: Courtauld Institute of Art. https://courtauld-website.s3.amazonaws.com/pub/e-books/nagaur/Bogin%2B2005%2BNagaur%2BSurvey.pdf

BOGIN, S., MARTIN DE FONJAUDRAN, C., & TRINGHAM, S. (2006). The wall paintings of Ahhichattragarh, Nagaur: Report on the investigations and treat-ment undertaken in february-march 2006 and proposals for future conservation, London: Courtauld Institute of Art. https://courtauld-website.s3.amazonaws.com/pub/e-books/nagaur/Bogin%2Bet%2Bal%2B2006%2BNagaur%2BSurvey%2BReport%2B(SECURED).pdf

BOGIN, S., MARTIN DE FONJAUDRAN, C., & TRINGHAM, S. (2012). The Sheesh Mahal at Nagaur Fort, Rajasthan, India: Conservation and training programme 2007-2011, London: Courtauld Institute of Art. https://courtauld-website.s3.amazonaws.com/pub/e-books/nagaur/Bogin%2Bet%2Bal.%2B2007-11%2BSheesh%2BMahal_Low%2BRes%2B%26%2Bed%2B%28SECURED%29.pdf

BOGIN, S., MARTIN DE FONJAUDRAN, C., & TRINGHAM, S. (2016). Nagaur Conservation Programme Phase 5: Project data January-February 2016, Lon-don: Courtauld Institute of Art. https://courtauld-website.s3.amazonaws.com/pub/e-books/nagaur/NAG16_red.pdf

BUSCH, A. (2011). Poetry of kings: The classical hindi literature of Mughal India, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

BUSCH, A. (2012). "Portrait of a Raja in a Badshah’s World: Amrit Rai’s Biography of Man Singh (1585)", Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, Vol. 55, Nº 2/3: 287-328. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685209-12341237

BUSCH, A. (2015). "Listening for the context: Turning into the reception of riti poet-ry". En F. Orsini & K. Butler (eds.), Tellings and Texts: Music, Literature and Performance in North India, Cambridge: Open Book Publishers: 249-282.

BUTLER SCHOFIELD, K. (2012). "The courtesan tale: Female musicians and dancers in Mughal historical chronicles, c. 1556-1748", Gender & History, Vol. 24, Nº 1: 150-171. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0424.2011.01673.x

CHANDRAMANI. (1982). "Gunijankhana". En J. N. Asopa (ed.), Cultural Heritage of Jaipur, Jodhpur: United Book Traders: 95-107.

ENTWISTLE, A. W. (1987). Braj: Centre of Krishna pilgrimage, Groningen: E. For-sten.

FERNÁNDEZ DEL CAMPO, E. (2007). Las pinturas de Ajanta: Teatro de la naturale-za en la India Clásica, Madrid: Abada Editores.

FERNÁNDEZ JUBÍN, S. (2021). "Conservando cuerpos, restaurando almas. Plan Di-rector para la recuperación de Rāy Pravīṇ Mahal y sus jardines", Anales de Histo-ria del Arte, Vol. 31: 379-406. https://doi.org/10.5209/anha.78064

GANGOLY, O. C. (1947). Ragas and raginis, Bombay: Nalanda Books on Asian Art.

GHOSH, R. (1975). Aspects of seventeenth century rajasthani paintings: A study of its cultural sources [Tesis doctoral], Calcutta: University of Calcutta. https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in:8443/jspui/handle/10603/158220

GIOVANNONI, S., MATTEINI, M., & MOLES, A. (1990). "Studies and developments concerning the problem of altered lead pigments in wall painting", Studies in Conservation, Vol. 35, Nº 1: 21-25. https://doi.org/10.1179/sic.1990.35.1.21

GOETZ, H. (1949). "The Nāgaur School of Rājput painting (18th century)", Artibus Asiae, Vol. 12, Nº 1/2: 89-98. https://doi.org/10.2307/3248310

JINDAL, K. B. (1955). A History of Hindi Literature, Allahabad: Kitab Mahal.

KHAN, S. (2012). Building traditions in Bundelkhand: 1000 AD-1700 AD [Tesis doc-toral], Aligarh: Aligarh Muslim University. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/144524831.pdf

KOTHARI, S. (1989). Kathak: Indian Classical Dance Art, Delhi: Abhinav Publica-tions.

MCGREGOR, R. S. (1974). A History of Indian Literature: Modern Indo-Aryan litera-tures. Hindi literature of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Wiesba-den: Otto Harrassowitz.

MUKHERJEE, I. (1972). Social status of North Indian women, 1526-1701 AD, Agra: Shiva Lal Agarwala.

ROBBERECHTS, G. (2013). Orchha. Rai Praveen Palace and Gardens: A proposal for a better understanding and subsequent action, Leuven: INTACH Belgium.

ROBBERECHTS, G., & UPADHYAY, N. (2018). Orchha. Rai Praveen Palace & Gardens. Proposal Inception Report, Leuven: INTACH Belgium.

RUGGLES, D. F. (2008). Islamic gardens and landscapes, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press.

RUGGLES, D. F. (2013). "At the margins of architectural and landscape history: The Rajputs of South Asia", Muqarnas: An Annual on the Visual Cultures of the Is-lamic World, Vol. 30: 95-117. https://www.jstor.org/stable/42751917

RUGGLES, D. F., & Joffee, J. (2007). "Rajput gardens and landscapes". En M. Conan (ed.), Middle East garden traditions: Unity and diversity, Washington: Dumbar-ton Oaks: 269-286.

SCHWARTZBAUM, P. M., ZARI, D., TINT, U. B., & LAZZARINI, L. (1988). "The conservation of the mural paintings and external stuccoes of the temples of pa-gan", Studies in Conservation, Vol. 33, Nº 2: 103-107. https://doi.org/10.1179/sic.1988.33.1.103

SINGH, K. (2013). "A knowing look: Appropriation and subversion of the Mughal idi-om in Rajput paintings of the eighteenth century". En M. Sharma & P. Kaimal (eds.), Indian painting: Themes, histories, interpretations. Essays in honour of B. N. Goswamy, Bangalore: Grantha Corporation: 168-175.

SINHA, A., & Valderrama, A. (2014). "The oracle landscape of Orchha, India: Re-claiming the lost heritage", Journal of Cultural Geography, Vol. 31, Nº 3: 304-325. https://doi.org/10.1080/08873631.2014.943932

SREENIVASAN, R. (2006). "Drudges, dancing-girls, concubines: Female slaves in Rajput polity, 1500-1850". En I. Chatterjee & R. M. Eaton (eds.), Slavery and South Asian History, Indiana University Press: 136-161.

SWAPNA, R. D. (2007). The role of women during Mughal rule: 1526 to 1707 [Tesis doctoral], Dharwad: Karnatak University. http://archive.org/details/TheRoleOfWomenDuringMughalRule1526To1707

THELEN, E. (2006). Riding Through Change: History, Horses and the Restructuring of Tradition in Rajasthan [Trabajo Fin de Grado], Washington: University of Wash-ington. https://digital.lib.washington.edu:443/researchworks/handle/1773/2588

TILLOTSON, G. H. R. (2010). Nagaur: A garden palace in Rajasthan, Jodhpur: Mehrangarh Museum Trust.

TRIVEDI, M. (2002). "Female performing artists in Northern India: A survey". En A. Jan Qaisar & S. Prakash Verma (eds.), Art and culture: Painting and perspective, Delhi: Abhinav Publications: 153-171.

UPADHYAYA, N. P., & DEHEJIA, H. (2019). Paintings of Bundelkhand: Some re-membered, some forgotten, some not yet discovered, Delhi: D.K. Printworld.

WELCH, S. C. (1985). India: Art and culture, 1300-1900 (2a ed.), New York: The Met-ropolitan Museum of Art.

ZAWEED, S. (2008). "Wall paintings at Orchha", Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, Vol. 69: 1076-1082. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44147269

ZIMMER, H. (1992). Myths and symbols in Indian art and civilization (8a ed.), Prince-ton: Princeton University Press.