Allahabad Museum To Udaipur: A Journey Of Paintings, Poetry And Passion – Essay
Paintings in India are invariably layered with emotions - love, longing, desire, valour, sacrifice. The Allahabad Museum collection of rare paintings on display at The City Palace Museum of Udaipur are a testimony to this palette of colourful emotions captured by painters, old, new and very old. Titled 'Premarpan - Paintings of Eternal Bond Beyond Worldly Limits', the exhibition is open for the public since 15th December 2025 till 15th June 2026.
‘Premarpan’ is a poetic amalgamation of two profound words of Hindi: Prem, meaning love, and Samarpan, meaning dedication. These are bhavs, inner feelings or states of being that embody devotion, selflessness, and surrender towards another. The paintings exhibited are a creative expression of these deep emotional states; the stories they narrate bring alive mythological narratives, folk tales, and the valour-filled lives of the Maharanas of Mewar. It strikes a chord with visitors sensitive to these passions of the past; there are deeper currents of spirituality which can be experienced.
'Premarpan' marks the first-ever collaboration between the prestigious Allahabad Museum at Prayagraj under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India and The City Palace Museum of Udaipur, managed by the Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation. There is a growing trend in India of museums working together, sharing their priceless collections for visitors in different cities. While a thousand miles separate the two ancient cities of Udaipur and Prayagraj, 'Premarpan' is revealing the power of culture to twin the two cities and bridge its people.
When Her Excellency Smt. Anandiben Patel, Governor of the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, inaugurated the exhibition, she had words of appreciation for 'Premarpan' and the efforts that both museums had taken to preserve the heritage of Mewar and India in the form of paintings. She said, "These paintings are not just artworks but the emotions of Maharanas of Mewar and the artists who created these masterpieces and those emotions are alive by these artworks.” The Governor suggested taking 'Premarpan' on a global platform, "it should be an inspiration for other museums."
Milestone of mutual sharing
While the Union Minister of Culture and Tourism Gajendra Singh Shekhawat could not attend the inaugural ceremony at the Zenana Mahal of The City Palace Museum, in his audio message, he said " the collaboration between these two prestigious Museums is a milestone marking the mutual sharing of cultural resources and building deeper understanding of our culture."
The Minister's thoughts resonated with Dr. Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar of Udaipur, Chairman and Managing Trustee of the Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation, who expressed his gratitude to the Ministry of Culture and the Allahabad Museum for the collaborative endeavour. He acknowledged the leadership and guidance of the Minister towards the preparation of 'Premarpan', a major national exhibition for the year.
A poet and a lover of poetry himself, Dr Lakshyaraj said, "'Premarpan' is such an apt title for this paintings' exhibition. While the paintings take us back to centuries, the two Hindi words of 'Prem' and 'Samarpan' are timeless, truly eternal in their hidden layers of meanings." Art has the power to unite us and create the environment of harmony which our world desperately needs, he said.
The exhibition brings together works from the 18th to 21st centuries, allowing audiences to witness the evolution of style, technique, and thematic expression in Mewar painting. “Through this exhibition, the two Museums have reaffirmed their mutual commitment to the preservation, research, and reinterpretation of Indian art traditions and sharing it with the public,” said Dr Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar.
Being an educationist, he believes in empowering the youth while remaining focused on heritage preservation and philanthropy. 'Premarpan' owes much to his leadership, his pride in cultural roots and his ability to create a milieu for professionals to thrive. Dr Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar had graciously dedication the exhibition to the city of Udaipur and especially its youth.
Loves and its challenges
For 'Premarpan', the Allahabad Museum shared forty-eight paintings from its collection, while The City Palace Museum, Udaipur has displayed thirty-six paintings of the Mewar School depicting these emotions of love and dedication. The paintings bring alive the love-filled lives of Lord Krishna and Radha, their romance and every rendezvous which conveys different seasons and heaven-like surroundings.
Shared for the readers is the painting titled, ‘Shree Krishna and Radha ji with Gopis in a Garden’. It is from The City Palace Museum, Udaipur collection. With opaque watercolours on paper, it is dated to early 20th century to mid-20th century and captures the essence of ‘Premarpan’. In its composition, the painter has created a sense of harmony while the heaven-like garden has been created for the two lovers Radha and Krishna. There is a distinct gracefulness in the figures, each of whom contributes to the ambience of intense love and devotion. The bounty of flowers, foliage, fountains, a peacock taking flight: these are age-old elements adding to the painting and its multilayered stories.
There are paintings narrating the tales of Dhola-Maru, the two lovers who faced innumerable challenges before they could be united. The saga of their love story has inspired painters, poets, dramatists, folk singers and balladeers to find newer meanings. In more ways than one, Dhola-Maru are like Radha-Krishna, a cornerstone of India's cultural identity which has united communities across the length and breadth of the country for centuries. Not just in the western Indian state of Rajasthan or Uttar Pradesh in the north, in central India too across the Vindhyan mountain ranges, the saga of Dhola-Maru touches the hearts and minds of people through songs, dances and folk-poetry and painting.
Visitors to 'Premarpan' will discover the paintings from different themes like Rasikpriya, Bihari Satsai, Geet Govind and Sursagar; each of these themes are oceanic in their width and depth, as art historians and curators explain.
Conservation of paintings
“It was a challenge for us at The City Palace Museum, Udaipur,” said Dr Mayank Gupta, chief executive officer of the Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation, “to have worked on conserving thirty-four paintings from our collection at the in-house laboratory.” This set of paintings were made ready for display in less than six months. The team of conservators completed the conservation treatments on these paintings, stabilizing the support and paint layer of these artworks with the help of appropriate conservation grade materials, tools and high-tech equipment.
All the paintings were thoroughly documented and examined under different spectrums of light. Some of the paintings revealed interesting details in ultraviolet and infrared that are not visible to the naked eyes, for example, under drawings, use of specific mineral pigments which fluoresce, brushstrokes and changes in the final composition made by the artists. “Some of these findings shall be displayed in the exhibition next to the artworks. This will allow the visitors to get a better understanding of this style of paintings,” said Dr Gupta.
The conservation approach varies according to the size, material and condition of the selected paintings which ranges from 1 foot to 6 feet, and made on different supports like paper, canvas, wooden board, etc. using natural mineral pigments, watercolors, oil paints and gold. Some common types of deteriorations noticed on these paintings were cracking and flaking of paint layer, tears and losses of support etc.
One such example is a painting on canvas, “Shree Radha-Krishna”, where the fragile paint layer was consolidated, losses were infilled and the painting was lined and stretched on to a new support, explained the conservators. Mounting and framing of all the artworks are being done manually by the in-house team. It is not just the treatments but also the preventive care of the paintings has been ensured: correct display technique, light exposure and other environmental factors in the gallery are equally important.
Rich collections
Established in 1931, Allahabad Museum is one of India’s foremost national museums under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India in the city of Prayagraj. Originally known as Prayag Sangrahalaya, the institution entered a new phase with the opening of its present building in 1954. The museum houses a rich and varied collection reflecting India’s artistic, cultural, and historical evolution. Its holdings include archaeological artefacts, sculptures, miniature paintings, coins, manuscripts, decorative arts, arms and armour, textiles, ceramics, photographs, and prints.
Now in its 56th year of operations, The City Palace Museum, Udaipur is administered by the Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation. It was set up in 1969 by His Late Highness Maharana Bhagwat Singh Mewar of Udaipur to safeguard and preserve the cultural heritage and the time-honoured traditions of the people of Mewar. The City Palace of Udaipur was the first among the Royal Palaces of Princely India to have taken the visionary step towards establishing The City Palace Museum of Udaipur. Today the museum is a rich repository of paintings, photographs, textiles and royal costumes, arms and armouries, silver artefacts, sculptures, and musical instruments. These unique collections on display belong to the House of Mewar, preserved and shared as the living heritage of Mewar.
‘Premarpan - Paintings of Eternal Bond Beyond Worldly Limits’ is a beginning, a new cultural experience for visitors and a major achievement for the two Museums that have much to share in the future.