In the twilight of the year, art lovers may be able to add two new gems to their collection — former Maharaja of Aundh Bhavanrao (Balasaheb) Pant Pratinidhi's century-old out-of-print volume of watercolours on the Ramayana and a book with paintings and descriptions of the Ajanta caves that was commissioned by him.
The state government's Directorate of Archaeology and Museums plans to publish these two works, which were first unearthed accidentally.
"Around a year ago, we were looking for some books in our library when we came across these manuscripts with loose pages and colour plates," said Shreyas Jagtap, assistant curator at the Bhawani Museum in Aundh, Satara.
"The Ramayana volume, which was first printed in 1916, has 64 colour paintings, with 60 of them accompanied by a relevant Sanskrit shloka. We are planning to re-print the book with the relevant Sanskrit shlokas for the remaining four paintings with bi-lingual descriptions in Marathi and English," he said.
The volume on the Ajanta caves, which was published in 1930, has around 51 detailed Marathi descriptions of the paintings' depictions and information about colours used. However, Jagtap noted that only the text of the Ajanta manuscript was found and the colour plates were missing. The officials then decided to take high-resolution photographs of the original paintings, which are in the museum to be published. The book is planned to be re-printed in two separate English and Marathi volumes.
"We are planning to come out with thematic catalogues, beginning with the volumes on Ajanta and Ramayana," confirmed Tejas Garge, Director, Directorate of Archaeology and Museums. He added that they were planning to publish the volumes via corporate social responsibility (CSR) funding or through the government printing press. Each volume may need an estimated Rs 2.5 to 3 lakh though the final values can be assigned after the manuscript is finalised.
"The catalogues may be brought into the market next year. If we secure CSR funds, it may be done later this year," noted Garge.
