Urvasi Uddhar

The apsara Urvashi was a recurrent icon in popular prints from the turn of the twentieth century. Her sensual and delicate form is borrowed from Raja Ravi Varma’s set of mythological paintings. She is often represented, in the Mahabharata and Puranic stories, encountering earthly beings as a divine temptress while attempting to balance the three worlds on the commands of Indra. Transmuting from high art to the commercial form of chromolithograph and oleograph prints, the eroticised representation of Urvashi also narrates the story of her journeys between the worlds of gods and humans. While Shiva and Vishnu are present to the left of Urvashi, Kali hovers behind her as if to provide necessary protection from the army of gods and men.