1882
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
View of the Riverbank of the Narmada at Omkareshwar is a 1882 by Raja Deen Dayal, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
This is a black-and-white photograph of a wide river with small boats, a stone temple on the far bank, and people gathered along the shore. It’s one of the earliest photographs of this stretch of the Narmada River, taken before bridges or dams changed the landscape. The boats and crowds show how the river was the main highway for trade and daily life in 1882. To see more early photographs of India, look up Raja Deen Dayal (Indian, 1844–1905).
Bridges now span the river, which is dammed to the east to provide hydroelectric power. When this photograph was made, the river was an important site of trade and transportation, and the riverbank a major locale for commerce and commuting.
The Omkareshwar shrine, located on an island in the sacred Narmada River, was accessible in the 1800s only by boat.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Raja Lala Deen Dayal, famously known as Raja Deen Dayal) was an Indian photographer.
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