Cleveland Museum of Art

A Prince Performs Austerities (recto); Shiva and His Followers Return to Mount Kailash (verso), from a Romance of Chandrabhanu and Lavanyavati of Upendra Bhanja (1670–1740)

Date: 1700s
Medium: gum tempera and lampblack on palm leaf
Culture: Eastern India, Odisha (formerly Orissa)
Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Institution: Cleveland Museum of Art

In this illustration from the beginning of a popular romance, a prince performed intense austerities and devotions to the Shiva linga in order to obtain a divine woman. He practices yoga surrounded by fires during the hot season and wanders unsheltered during monsoon, as seen on the recto. On the verso, Shiva has answered his prayers and returns home to his "cave on Mount Kailash," as stated in the inscription. There is a three-legged yogi on the verso.

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