The month of Baishakh (April - May) from a Baramasa series

This drawing represents Ashar (June-July). It is one of three preparatory drawings from a set of illustrations of Baramasa poems given by Kathy Burton Jones. The poems, which appear in Devanagari script on the reverse of the drawings, describe the months of the year with a focus on the festivals that ushered in each season. On the obverse, notations in Devanagari script indicate the colors for the finished painting. Each scene centers on the romantic bond between man and woman, a metaphor for life-continuing concepts. Here a couple with lively gesturing hands face one another. They are seated on an elegant terrace, and in the background, villagers tend cows.