Angels in murals on Badal Mahal, Bundi Fort

Rana Safvi — Sun, 10 Aug 2025 09:09:47 +0000

These are some of the angel figures painted on Bundi Garh’s Badal Mahal.
The depiction of angels in Bundi murals shows clear inspiration from Mughal and Persian manuscripts, where such celestial beings appear in illustrations of the Mi’raj (Ascension of the Prophet) and other mystical Islamic tales.
However, the Bundi school gives them a distinct Indian flavor with vibrant colors, dramatic motion, and context.
They reflect a cultural confluence, a spiritual imagination, and a celebration of the divine in art. These murals are part of a broader narrative that makes Bundi’s palace one of the finest repositories of wall painting traditions in India, especially from the 17th to 18th centuries.
@bundipalace
#bundi #garh #murals

now check with this painting

Ibrahim Ibn Adham of Balkh Served by Angels
Probably by Mir Kalan Khan (active 1730-75)
From the Read Mughal Album
India, Mughal, Awadh,
circa 1760

“After a spiritual awakening, Ibrāhīm Ibn Adham (d. 798), an eighth-century ruler of Balkh, renounced his kingdom and wealth to become a wandering dervish. Part of his spiritual awakening happened one night when he heard people on the roof of his palace…Rūmī (1207–1273), a later Sufi mystic, also born in Balkh, recounted Ibrāhīm’s story in his six-volume poetic work, the Masnavī. Legend has it that Khiżr, the immortal guide of the Sufi, played a role and that Ibrāhīm, regarded as a spiritual ancestor of the Chishtī Sufi order, was fed by angels”
Read more: https://www.themorgan.org/collection/treasures-of-islamic-manuscript-painting/85#

#bundi #garh #murals – Rana Safvi

Angels in murals on Badal Mahal, Bundi Fort