The Masnad Mahal is Patiala’s answer to the Sistine chapel, and should in any reasonable world be a world heritage site unto itself.

On the upper walls unfurl scenes from the lives of the ten Sikh Gurus, painted in the Jaipur style but adapted from Lahori prototypes. Far more imposing, however, are the sweeping panels narrating the Rukmini Haran – Krishna’s abduction of Rukmini.

The paintings are particularly fascinating and art historian Kavita Singh notes that they compell us to “broaden our notion of what constitutes a ‘Sikh’ subject.”

The emphasis on Krishna serves a dynastic purpose. The Patiala Maharajas claimed Chandravanshi (Lunar Dynasty) descent and traced their ancestry to Yadu, the ancestor of Krishna.

The Sikh kings thus appropriated Krishna as their own progenitor, regarding him as the ideal noble and virtuous king, despite their allegiance to the Sikh panth. Lambah suggests this indicates “allegiance to an earlier faith with newer loyalties.”

A portrait of Patiala’s Sikh Maharaja Karam Singh is thus flanked by the figures of Krishna, Rama, Garuda, and Hanuman.

-Sam Dalrymple