A group of women in ecstasy before Madhava, folio 4 from a Madhavanala-Kamakandala (c. 1720): Art, History and Details

A group of women in ecstasy before Madhava, folio 4 from a Madhavanala-Kamakandala (c. 1720) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The raptures of Madhava’s audience intensify. As he plays, the music becomes increasingly climactic. Several women stand immobilized; others make emotive gestures. Some faint, while others feel compelled to remove their clothes and jewelry. Written by a Sufi Muslim poet embracing mysticism, the story shows how devotees should feel toward Allah, god of Islam. In the Hindu courts of Pahari India, however, the story provided entertainment for the educated elite. The women’s ecstasies can also be viewed in the context of the Hindu devotional movement (bhakti), characterized by using poetry and art to stir a sense of erotic love for Krishna or Rama.

Object facts

• Title: A group of women in ecstasy before Madhava, folio 4 from a Madhavanala-Kamakandala
• Date: c. 1720
• Culture: Northern India, Pahari kingdoms
• Type: Painting
• Technique: gum tempera and gold on paper
• Dimensions: Page: 21.7 x 31 cm (8 9/16 x 12 3/16 in.); Image: 19.1 x 28.3 cm (7 1/2 x 11 1/8 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 2018.91

A detail from the museum

Mesmerized women sitting by the well are removing their jewelry.

Collection credit

Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Griswold, William, Cameron Kitchin, Chase F. Robinson, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cincinnati Art Museum, and National Museum of Asian Art (Smithsonian Institution). Pahari Paintings: Art and Stories, edited by Sonya Rhie Mace, Sarang Sharma, and Vijay Sharma. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2026.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.