Cleveland Museum of Art

A girl worshipping the rising sun (Surya puja)

Chokha

Date

c. 1810

Medium

gum tempera and gold on paper

Culture

Northwestern India, Rajasthan, Rajput Kingdom of Devgarh

Department

Indian and Southeast Asian Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Clad in only her undergarment, an adolescent girl performs a ritual of morning prayer. She pours a stream of water that splashes down the steps of the platform on which she stands, her garland and orange sari on the ground behind her. Devotional practice in India can occur in nature, in the open air, without the presence of a temple, icon, or a priest. Animals stir in the hills, and a goose has caught a fish. The artist appears to have connected the peace and bounty of the land with the pious act of honoring the sun with water. One of the two ducks in the lotus pond has a fish in its bill.

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