Man Dhata in Yogi Position
1695
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1695
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Man Dhata in Yogi Position is a 1695 unspecified by Unknown, a Baroque work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
A king sits cross-legged, eyes closed, fingers curled in a yoga pose. His body glows against a dark, empty background. Tiny flames rise from his head like a crown. This isn’t just a portrait—it shows the king doing an advanced yogic practice called *ghranti*, where breath is used to "pierce" spiritual knots in the body. Kings in this time often linked power with yoga, but paintings of them actually doing it are rare. To see more works like this, look up pahari.
An unconventional ruler portrait depicts Raja Mandhata of Nurpur (reigned 1661/1667–1700) engaged in yogic practice, raising his breath to pierce the three knots ( ghranti ) of the subtle body. The knots, which are located at the base of the spine, the heart, and between the eyebrows, are identified, respectively, with the deities Brahma, Vishnu, and Rudra (Shiva). This rare image of the ghranti points to the key role that kings played in creating yoga’s visual culture.
Read the full account in the museum source.
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