Ravana battles the great vulture Jatayu and defeats him by throwing stones in his mouth, folio 18 (recto) from a Chandana Malayagiri Varta (Story of King Chandana and Queen Malayagiri) of Karamachand

Cleveland Museum of Art

Ravana battles the great vulture Jatayu and defeats him by throwing stones in his mouth, folio 18 (recto) from a Chandana Malayagiri Varta (Story of King Chandana and Queen Malayagiri) of Karamachand

Date
1744–45
Medium
Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Culture
Northwestern India, Rajasthan, Rajput Kingdom of Kishangarh
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Institution
Cleveland Museum of Art
Object ID
539459

From the Cleveland Museum of Art record

Scenes of the abduction and rescue of Sita are embedded within a popular tale rewritten in a Gujarati-Rajasthani vernacular language by the poet Karamachand in 1629–30. Many details differ from the more well-known Ramayana of Valmiki. The artist shows Ravana as a merchant carrying Sita in a white sack slung over one shoulder. As Jatayu, a vulture ally of Rama, attempts to rescue her, Ravana attacks him with a sword, above. He then defeats the bird by throwing stones in his mouth. He painted the stones with blood, so Jatayu would swallow them. The blood-covered stones will weigh the bird down, so he cannot rescue Sita.

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Provenance & credit

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Credit line
James Parmelee and Cornelia Blakemore Warner Funds
Provenance
?–1968: (Arun Bharany, New Delhi, India, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) | 1968–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

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