Pisces (Mina), from a Mandi Astrology Series

Pisces (Mina), the twelfth and final sign of the zodiac, is depicted as a pair of golden fish swimming in a river animated by scenes of daily life. Larger than the other aquatic creatures, the fish dominate the composition. Along the riverbank, a boat ferries passengers, a man performs his morning ablutions, a monk and disciple practice yoga, and women carry water pots as they begin their daily tasks. Houses and two Shiva temples, each enshrining a flower-adorned shiva linga, line the shore.

The inscription on the verso cites a verse from the Yavanajataka, the ancient astrological treatise attributed to Sphujidhvaja. It identifies Pisces and invokes its traditional association as the “two feet of Kala (Time),” a reference to the Kala-Purusha, the cosmic archetype in Vedic astrology that envisions the universe as a single, all-encompassing human form.

This painting is one of fifteen known works from a dispersed astrological series comprising two groups: zodiac signs (rashis), accompanied by verses from the Yavanajataka, and planetary deities (navagrahas), inscribed with Puranic dhyana-shlokas or kavachas. The series has been attributed to the artist Sajnu, active in Mandi or Kangra in the Pahari hill region of present-day Himachal Pradesh during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.