Acknowledgements

While this book lists a single author, its production has been a collaborative effort and a labour of love. This collaboration extends beyond the projects of research, translation and writing to include those who have been hospitable and generous conversation partners during my many trips to India. While there are too many individuals to thank for their satsang, I offer special gratitude to Ranjan and Ashok Paliwal, Kailash and Krutika Bhatt, Maheshwari Bhatia, and Dr Yogini Mehta. It is to these and many other members of the Pushtimargi Vaishnava community to whom I dedicate this book.

Many Pushtimargi hereditary leaders have graciously assisted me with my research and answered questions about my translations. I give special thanks to the following individuals: Goswami Vishal of Nathdwara, Vrajeshkumar Maharaj of BarodaKankroli, Goswami Ananda Bava of Rajkot, Shyam Manohar Goswami of Mumbai-Kishangarh, and Goswami Madhusudan (Tilak Bava) of Ahmedabad. For sharing his knowledge of varta literature, I thank Sumit Sharma. For providing ever-patient comments on my writing and for encouraging me to focus on the heart of the matter, I thank Dr Rupert Snell. For their enthusiasm and support for this project, I offer thanks to Bipin Shah and his team at Mapin. For her keen professional eye and deep appreciation for Pushtimargi visual culture, and for her friendship, I thank designer Paulomi Shah. Without Amit Ambalal, this book would not exist. His depth of knowledge about Pushtimargi art history is unrivalled, and I am forever indebted to him for sharing this knowledge with me. I am especially appreciative of him for granting me access to his impressive collection, especially the 1702 illustrated Chaurasi Vaishnavan ki Varta manuscript under consideration here. My considerations of this manuscript’s paintings and their relationship to other painting genres, including goswami portraiture and Braj yatra ‘guidebooks’, are due solely to insights that he generously shared with me through many conversations over several years. I also give thanks to the entire Ambalal family for their hospitality.

Finally, I offer humble gratitude to all my loved ones—family and friends, you know who you are— for continuing to support my research and writing.

Emilia Bachrach, Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio 2019