
Enrica Medugno
Senior Sale Coordinator


Sold for £960 inc. premium
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Senior Sale Coordinator

Head of Department
Provenance
Private collection, USA.
The Vallabhacharya sect of Vaishnavism was founded by Vallabhacharya (1479-1531) around the idol of Sri Nath-Ji. As a result of the persecution instigated by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, the shrine of the cult was moved and eventually found sanctuary at Nathdwara in 1671. Other images of the idol were scattered around Rajasthan and Gujarat.
The seven sons of Vallabcharya received equal divisions of his wealth at his death and continued the worship of Sri Nath-Ji, hence the importance of genealogy.
For a brief account of the growth of the cult and of Vallabcharya's role in it, see S. C. Welch (ed.), Gods, Kings and Tigers: the Art of Kotah, Munich 1997, p. 184; and A. Ambalal, Krishna as Shrinathji, Ahmedabad 1987, pp. 42-44, and p. 48 on the succession.