A girl worshipping the rising sun (Surya puja)
Medium
gum tempera and gold on paper
Dimensions
painting: 20.3 × 13.3 cm · page: 23.8 × 17.1 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund
Accession Number
2018.151
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
About this artwork
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 ac...