Picture Details
Scene from the Ramayana-Balakanda, sacrificial fires
Partner:
British LibraryImage reference:
BL.Add.15295.f.85Origin:
Udaipur, IndiaArtist / Date:
Unknown, 1712Size:
215 x 380 mmDescription:
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The Balakanda, or Book of Childhood, is a segment of the Hindu epic Ramayana, dealing with the circumstances leading to the birth of the hero Rama and his brothers and his marriage to Sita. Since Rama was a royal prince, this 18th century copy is lavishly illustrated with scenes of feasting and ceremonial. Here a thatch-roofed pandal or temporary pavilion has been erected to shelter the space for a sacrificial fire into which chanting priests are throwing oblations. All the accoutrements of a traditional Indian ceremony or puja are portrayed, banana trees, diagrams of rice paste on the floor, jasmine garlands and strings of mango leaves hanging as auspicious decorations, and in the foreground more priests are ladling ghee (clarified butter) into the sacred fire. Rama and his brothers are seen at right. Rice paste is used for often complex diagrams associated with the sacred cosmic maps or mandalas. The diagrams, known regionally as rangoli, kolam or alpana, also decorate thresholds of houses as part of daily ritual.
