Cleveland Museum of Art
The Heroine Who Waits Anxiously for Her Absent Lover: Utka Nayika
- Date
- c. 1760–65
- Medium
- Gum tempera and gold on paper
- Culture
- Northern India, Pahari kingdoms
- Department
- Indian and Southeast Asian Art
- Institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
In the hilly and verdant landscape all around her, birds and animals are all in pairs—even many of the trees have doubles—but she remains alone, waiting on a bed of leaves for her lover to arrive. She has no way of knowing when he will come, like the devotee has no way to know when god will arrive and bring salvation and bliss. The wildlife has been depicted in pairs to highlight the nayika ’s loneliness.
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