The Death of Ravana, folio from a Ramayana

Title: The Death of RavanaClose TooltipRavana[RAAV-uh-nuh]demon king of Lanka in the epic Ramayana., folioClose Tooltipfoliothe back and front of a leaf in a book; the term is usually used in the context of handwritten manuscripts. page – refers to only one side of a leaf and is used in the context of printed books. from a RamayanaClose TooltipRamayana[ruh-MAY-uh-nuh]the great epic of Rama.

Type: ManuscriptClose Tooltipmanuscript[man-yoo-skript]a handwritten text.

Associated Religious Tradition: Hinduism

Origins

• Geography: Northern India
• Date: Late 16th–early 17th century
• Period: Early Modern

Physical Properties

• Material: Opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper in two volumes with modern bindings
• Dimensions: H × W: 27.3 × 15.52 cm (page average)

Crediting Information

• Collection: Freer Gallery of Art Collection
• Credit Line: Gift of Charles Lang Freer
• Accession Number: F1907.271.173-346 folio 270r

The RamayanaClose TooltipRamayana[ruh-MAY-uh-nuh]the great epic of Rama., the great epic of the Hindu god RamaClose TooltipRama[RAA-muh]a major deity, one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu., was composed in the SanskritClose TooltipSanskrit[san-SKRIT]the Indian language in which the earliest Hindu hymns, as well as many later scriptures, were composed. A cosmopolitan language used across South and Southeast Asia for centuries, it is the language of numerous Buddhist texts. Buddhist texts known or believed to have been translated from Sanskrit are considered authoritative. language some two thousand years ago. Since then, it has been retold in many languages, regions, and countries. Different tellings of the Ramayana emphasize different aspects of the narrative and its protagonists, but the epic remains, at its core, a story of the triumph of good over evil.

The epic’s hero is Rama, a prince who has been unjustly exiled from his kingdom. While in exile, the ten-headed demon RavanaClose TooltipRavana[RAAV-uh-nuh]demon king of Lanka in the epic Ramayana. kidnaps Rama’s beloved wife, Sita. Ravana, who began as a good king but whose power made him arrogant and evil, takes Sita to his golden fortress on the island of Lanka. To rescue Sita, Prince Rama and his brother Lakshmana team up with an army of monkeys and bears. After many fierce battles, Sita is rescued. Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana return to their kingdom, Ayodhya. In the Hindi Ramayana written by Tulsidas, their return inaugurates a harmonious reign of one thousand years.

Most Ramayanas understand Rama to be an avatarClose Tooltipavatar[aa-VUH-taar]a divine manifestation on earth. of VishnuClose TooltipVishnu[VISH-noo]one of the principal deities of the Hindu traditions. He is the object of devotion for the Vaishnavas and the preserver of the universe. He has taken physical form as human avatars, such as Rama and Krishna., sent to earth with the goal of restoring cosmic balance. Like Vishnu, Rama has blue skin and wears yellow garments.

This RamayanaClose TooltipRamayana[ruh-MAY-uh-nuh]the great epic of Rama. exemplifies how diversity nourished India’s creative culture. In the sixteenth century, the Mughal emperor Akbar, a Muslim, had the SanskritClose TooltipSanskrit[san-SKRIT]the Indian language in which the earliest Hindu hymns, as well as many later scriptures, were composed. A cosmopolitan language used across South and Southeast Asia for centuries, it is the language of numerous Buddhist texts. Buddhist texts known or believed to have been translated from Sanskrit are considered authoritative. epic translated into Persian. The emperor, who loved a good adventure story and who valued the Ramayana as a window into Indian kingship, then had the epic lavishly illustrated.

Akbar’s chief minister, Abd al-Rahim, was a bibliophile who wrote poetry in both Persian and Hindi. He had his atelier of bookmakers, calligraphers, and painters produce this copy of the imperial Ramayana. Simpler in style, it is nonetheless ambitious. Its 346 pages feature 130 full-page illustrations created by fifteen painters.

Numerous elements reveal the impact of Persian painting upon this folioClose Tooltipfoliothe back and front of a leaf in a book; the term is usually used in the context of handwritten manuscripts. page – refers to only one side of a leaf and is used in the context of printed books., including the text boxes with Nastaliq script, the landscape’s high horizon and surging pink rocks, and the mottled and bell-wearing demons, who watch from a safe distance the complete defeat of their leader. Working in opaque watercolors and gold, the artist focused his attention on Rama’s defeat of RavanaClose TooltipRavana[RAAV-uh-nuh]demon king of Lanka in the epic Ramayana.. RamaClose TooltipRama[RAA-muh]a major deity, one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu., blue and clad in yellow like the great god VishnuClose TooltipVishnu[VISH-noo]one of the principal deities of the Hindu traditions. He is the object of devotion for the Vaishnavas and the preserver of the universe. He has taken physical form as human avatars, such as Rama and Krishna., has just shot an arrow from his mighty bow. The huge demon sprawls diagonally across the page. While Rama’s simian soldiers nip and gnaw Ravana’s legs, the lower text box seems to pin the demon’s ten heads and eighteen arms to the ground. Good triumphs over evil!

Today, the story of the RamayanaClose TooltipRamayana[ruh-MAY-uh-nuh]the great epic of Rama. remains dynamic as Rama’s story is reenacted, remembered, and retold in new ways across the globe. The Ramayana was televised in India in 1987–88 and garnered the world’s largest television audience in history; its cultural and political impact reverberates in India to this day. Continuities with Indian traditions, as well as innovations in the Indian diaspora in the United States, can be appreciated in the illustrated Ramayana by California-based artist and Pixar animator Sanjay Patel and in the RamaClose TooltipRama[RAA-muh]a major deity, one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. Navami festival celebrated in Michigan (see Selected Resources).

1. Compare this folioClose Tooltipfoliothe back and front of a leaf in a book; the term is usually used in the context of handwritten manuscripts. page – refers to only one side of a leaf and is used in the context of printed books. with three other folios from the same RamayanaClose TooltipRamayana[ruh-MAY-uh-nuh]the great epic of Rama., each created by a different painter in the workshop of Abd al-Rahim. Folios: https://asia.si.edu/whats-on/blog/posts/the-epic-that-inspired-diwali/
2. Compare the monkey army in two folios. What did the two different artists emphasize in their representations of the monkeys?
3. Find the two folios that depict RavanaClose TooltipRavana[RAAV-uh-nuh]demon king of Lanka in the epic Ramayana.. These are two of the most important moments in the Ramayana narrative. How did the artists show his power? How did they represent his defeat?
4. Which folio do you find the most successful in telling the dramatic story, and why?

1. What is the RamayanaClose TooltipRamayana[ruh-MAY-uh-nuh]the great epic of Rama.? Why is this story important to Hindus?
2. Why might the Ramayana, a two-thousand-year-old story, still be relevant and retold for contemporary audiences? How is the Ramayana represented, performed, or commemorated across different parts of the world?

Cummins, Joan. Indian Painting: From Cave Temples to the Colonial Period. Boston, MA: Museum of Fine Arts, 2006.

Getty Museum. “Exploring Color in Mughal Paintings.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO9IkkjQhso

Harvard University. “RamaClose TooltipRama[RAA-muh]a major deity, one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu., Sita, HanumanClose TooltipHanuman[HA-noom-aan]a deity with the body of a monkey; a companion of the deity Rama and an exemplar of self-discipline and devotion..” The Pluralism Project. https://pluralism.org/rama-sita-hanuman

Harvard University. “What is Hinduism?” The Pluralism Project. https://pluralism.org/what-is-hinduism

Miller, Barbara Stoler. The Bhagavad GitaClose TooltipBhagavad Gita[bha-guh-VAD GEE-tuh]the teaching of Krishna within the larger Mahabharata epic. Dating to circa 200 BCE–300 CE, it is one of the most influential Hindu philosophical texts.: Krishna’s Counsel in Time of War. New York: Bantam Classics, 2004.

Patel, Sanjay. RamayanaClose TooltipRamayana[ruh-MAY-uh-nuh]the great epic of Rama.: Divine Loophole. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books, 2010.

Richman, Paula, ed. Many Ramayanas: The Diversity of a Narrative Tradition in South Asia. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.

Seyller, John. Workshop and Patron in Mughal India: The Freer Ramayana and Other Illustrated Manuscripts of ‘Abd al-Rahim. Zürich and Washington, DC: Artibus Asiae Publishers: Museum Rietberg; in association with the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art. “The Epic that Inspired Diwali.” https://asia.si.edu/whats-on/blog/posts/the-epic-that-inspired-diwali/

Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art. “Worlds within Worlds Revealed.” https://asia-archive.si.edu/learn/worlds-within-worlds-imperial-paintings-from-india-and-iran/worlds-within-worlds-revealed/