# The Heroine Who Waits Anxiously for Her Absent Lover: Utka Nayika

- Date: c. 1760–65
- Medium: Gum tempera and gold on paper
- Classification: Painting
- Dimensions: Page: 26.3 x 17.8 cm (10 3/8 x 7 in.); Image: 25.2 x 16.6 cm (9 15/16 x 6 9/16 in.)
- Culture: Northern India, Pahari kingdoms
- Credit line: Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/2018.114)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/cma/2018.114/2018.114_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Teens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

In the hilly and verdant landscape all around her, birds and animals are all in pairs—even many of the trees have doubles—but she remains alone, waiting on a bed of leaves for her lover to arrive. She has no way of knowing when he will come, like the devotee has no way to know when god will arrive and bring salvation and bliss.