Retelling the story of courtesans

Anandita Gupta

Ganika in the Visual Culture of 19th-20th Century India is a beautifully crafted portrait of some of the most intriguing figures in Indian culture and history — the courtesans.

Interestingly, the release of this anthology coincides with the release of acclaimed filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi—The Diamond Bazaar—a series that also celebrates the courtesans, among other things, as connoisseurs of art!

The anthology highlights the courtesan as the artist in her own right—as a poet, dancer, multilingual and style aesthete. It depicts the courtesan’s cultural contribution to society— from her presence in the music to cinema, particularly classical music, the gramophone era, in film promotional memorabilia and her portrayal in post-Independence Hindi cinema.

Contributed by eight scholars with their expertise in the area, this fascinating anthology was released, with limited copies, on the International Museum Day at the National Crafts Museum, New Delhi on May 18. The contributors of this book include Swarnmalya Ganesha, Seema Bhalla, AK Das, Shweta Sachdeva Jha, Yatindra Mishra, Sumant Batra, Ira Bhaskar and Richard Allen. The book has been edited by Bhalla, the acclaimed art historian, curator and researcher from Chandigarh.

The anthology draws inspiration from a six-week exhibition on courtesans (with the same title) that Seema had curated in October 2022. “All exhibits were related to the tradition of courtesans. Most of them were from a private collection, including paintings, Picture post cards, cigarette cards, match box covers printed in Sweden, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Japan etc, film posters and lobby cards. I had also collaborated with the National Crafts Museum, New Delhi, to include the textiles and jewellery from their collection,” informs Seema, who has also contributed two chapters of this anthology.

This pictorially rich book covers different aspects of courtesans, tracing the trajectory from the tradition of devdasis to their depiction in post-Independent Hindi cinema. “Ganika is the term used in the Rig Veda for a woman who performs in public. I have used this term for Courtesan. The book delves into various facets of courtesans that will inspire people to view these enigmatic, highly accomplished performers objectively,” says Bhalla.

Obsessed with India’s culture and heritage, Bhalla has a PhD in Indian miniature paintings from Panjab University, Chandigarh. She takes great pride in creating awareness towards culture and heritage, as it makes people take pride in their roots, and become responsible humans and citizens, according to her. Seema’s strong affinity to all things old, steered her way to becoming an art historian. “Since childhood, I was drawn to antiques, palaces, old traditions etc. I always would get in trouble for stopping my mother distributing all the old colonial furniture, her heavily zari embroidered velvet wedding suits and shawls, old brass utensils, etc,” laughs Seema.