The girl in iconic 'Glow of Hope' painting dead at 102

Press Trust of India  |  Mumbai 

The girl holding the in the celebrated 'Glow of Hope', also known as the Woman With the Lamp, has died at 102.

The painting, a watercolour masterpiece L Haldankar, is now housed in the at the in Mysuru,

It is one of the most prized possessions as well as a major attraction at the gallery.

It was painted in 1945-46, almost seven decades ago, but yet holds the same amount of fascination for art lovers all over the country as then.

Though the masterpiece is Haldankar's creation, it has been wrongly attributed to

The girl in the was Gita Uplekar, Haldankar's third daughter.

She was staying at Kolhapur since the 1940s after her marriage to

The last rites were performed at 11 pm Tuesday,Raja Uplekar, Gita's nephew, told

She is survived by two daughters and a son and was staying in the house of the daughter who lives in the US, he said.

"I was 12 and lighting the Diwali diya when Bhau (her father Haldankar) saw me and asked me to pose for the sketch," Gita had said at an event in Kolhapur to mark her turning 100.

The was completed in three days, she had said.

had said some years ago, a buyer from ready to buy the painting for Rs 8 crore, but the gallery did not part with the portrait, which was bought from for Rs 300.

When the painting was being done, she had to hold her pose for over three hours continuously, had said.

There is an interesting story about how the idea for this iconic painting was conceived.

During one Diwali, saw his daughter in a beautiful saree with a candle and her hand woven around the flame to prevent the wind from blowing it out.

The rays of the candle radiated from the gap within her fingers and it also illuminated her face.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Wed, October 03 2018. 09:55 IST