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Bharat Mata (Mother India)
Abanindranath Tagore · Naïve, folk & other
- Artist
- Abanindranath Tagore (1871–1951)
- Date
- 1905
- Dimensions
- 26.7 x 15.2 cm
- Medium
- Watercolour on paper
- Location
- Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata, India
Bharat Mata shows a young woman in a saffron robe standing barefoot on green earth, with a halo of light around her head and four arms like a Hindu goddess. In her hands she holds a book, sheaves of rice, a white cloth and a string of prayer beads.
A closer look
Tagore painted this small watercolour at the time of the protests against the partition of Bengal by the British in 1905, and it became an emblem of the Swadeshi movement, which promoted Indian-made goods and national self-reliance. The four objects are gifts the mother offers her children: learning, food, clothing and spiritual life. Instead of European oil technique, Tagore used delicate washes of colour inspired by Mughal miniatures and Japanese painting, founding a new, deliberately Indian style. The calm, gentle figure is a personification of the nation as a caring mother.