AN ILLUSTRATION FROM THE "SHANGRI" RAMAYANA: RAMA, SITA, AND LAKSHMANA AT THE HERMITAGE IN PANCHAVATI

JAMMU (BAHU), CIRCA 1710-1740

JAMMU (BAHU), CIRCA 1710-1740
Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper; inscribed in Takri along the top border: Panchavati Raat Uparant dusrey din pratah kala sri maharaj sita lachhman godavari [...] kar mandal layi kari chaley; translated, "The following morning after the first night in the forest of Panchavati; Lord Rama, Lakshmana and Sita went for their ablutions to the River Godavari."
Image: 7 1/2 x 11 5/8 in. (19.8 x 28.1 cm);
Folio: 8 1/2 x 12 3/4 in. (22.3 x 30.7 cm)

In this illustration of a scene from Book III of the Ramayana, chapters 15 and 16, Rama, Lakshmana, and Sita have awoken from the first night spent in their new forest dwelling, after having been banished from the Kingdom of Ayodhya. The three heroes now head to the river Godavari to perform their morning ablutions. The river bends tightly before them and flows back across the bottom of the painting, producing a fertile grassy bank. Having found the charming spot, frequented by birds and beasts, where the sage Agastya had directed them to erect their hermitage, Rama remarks on how the days are getting colder and on the need to prepare for winter.

This painting has the characteristic canary-yellow background used in numerous illustrations of the "Shangri" Ramayana, produced in the Pahari Hills. Another example formerly of the Paul Walter Collection makes for immediate comparison (Sotheby's, New York, 14 November 2002, lot 60). The current work is a particularly fine example from this group and includes several striking elements, such as the swirling pool and the fine gold foliage sprouting on either side of the central tree behind the refuge. Its thatched roof is nestled among a grove of plum trees with Spanish moss descending from sage-green canopies.

Several hands of differing ability illustrated the "Shangri" Ramayana, but Book III, 'The Book of the Forest', is notable for having an unmatched stylistic consistency. Bagri has suggested that all the folios from Book III were painted by the same artist. In praise of his work, she states, "The artist closely adheres to the textual source and is perhaps the most consistent and accomplished painter in the Shangri Ramayana series...no other artist can match the range of expression found in his work." (Alka Bagri, "The Illustrations of the Shangri Ramayana: Early Court Paintings in the Punjab Hills," PhD Thesis, Oxford University, 2011).

Compare with other works from the series published in McInerney et al., Divine Pleasures, 2016, no.61; Cummins et al., Vishnu, 2011, no. 80; Archer, Indian Painting from the Punjab Hills, 1973, vol. II, p.243, no.5 (i); Fogg, Indian Paintings and Manuscripts, 1999, p.86, fig.54; and Losty & Galloway, Court Paintings from Persia and India, 2016, pp.70 & 71, no.27.

Provenance:
Mandi Royal Collection
Private European Collection acquired 1969
Rob Dean Art, London, November 2015