Art, Symbol & Imagination
Dhruva beneath the Night Sky: Asit Kumar Haldar
Original caption: Dhruva
Haldar places the young Dhruva against a large field of night, leaving the surrounding space almost empty. The small seated body and folded hands turn stillness into the principal action of the picture. In the collection’s legend Dhruva seeks a place beyond the honour denied him in his father’s household, and his steadfast devotion is eventually answered by an enduring place associated with the pole star. The image connects a child’s vulnerable beginning to a vast celestial setting. Its restraint makes the darkness a measure of the aspiration rather than a decorative backdrop.
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Citation
Asit Kumar Haldar. "Dhruva beneath the Night Sky: Asit Kumar Haldar" [source caption]. In Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists, Sister Nivedita and Ananda K. Coomaraswamy. Original scan, 1914, George G. Harrap & Co.. Source scan leaf 457. Lumitheca. /gallery/image/hindu-dhruva
Source details
Title from the printed caption. Editorial description. Source details from the Library catalogue.
Artist credited in the printed list of illustrations. Full source leaf and the adjacent narrative reviewed; historical scan colour and texture retained.
Sources
From the book
Myths of the Hindus and BuddhistsSister Nivedita and Ananda K. Coomaraswamy1914More from this book
Garuda: Nanda Lal Bose’s Mythological Bird Figure
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The Death of Maricha: K. Venkatappa’s IllustrationRelated illustrations
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Cite this illustration
Asit Kumar Haldar. Dhruva beneath the Night Sky: Asit Kumar Haldar. Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists. Scan leaf 457. Lumitheca. https://lumitheca.com/gallery/image/hindu-dhruva