Section VI

Section VI is of equal significance. It contains over 360 photographic plates that Luigi Pio Tessitori took during his stay in India from 1914 to 1919. The images were taken mainly in Rajasthan, in the cities of Bikaner, Jodhpur, Jaipur, Udaipur and orther small villages. There are also pictures form Gujarat, Bengal, Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.

The entire collection includes images of royal palaces (Amber, Jodhpur, Bikaner and Gajner), temples (Calcutta, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Maṇḍor, Galta, Amber, Rāṇakpur, Koḷū, Morakhāṇò, Pallū, Taḷājò, Patan and Srinagar) and cenotaphs (Bikaner, Maṇḍor and Jodhpur). There are also portraits of the people who had close relationships with Tessitori (Kiśora Dāna, Rāma Karṇa, Indravijaya and Vijaya Dharma Sūri).Tessitori’s vocation for archaeology is evident from the lovely pictures of ancient sculpture (Pallū), funerary stones (Pal), chatrī (Maṇḍor, Bikaner, Jodhpur, Pāravò and Roṛò), devaḷa (Maṇḍor and Bhādalò) and govardhana (Uderāmasara and Kiḷacu). His anthropological interests are also demonstrated by scenes from traditional festivals (nāgapañcamī melā and hoḷī) and everyday life (wedding processions, itinerant metalworkers and beggars).