Ramayana in Pahari Miniature Painting

Author(s): Jutta Jain
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

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THE RAMAYANA IN PAHARI MINIATURE PAINTING
This book is devoted to the Rāmāyaṇa theme as rendered in miniature painting. Its emphasis is on the major Rāmāyaṇa miniature series that have originated in the Pahari area, the mountain region in the north-western corner of India. Some Rāmāyaṇa series of other regions in India have been mentioned for the sake of comparison.
The Rāmāyaṇa
The Rāmāyaṇa, the Story of Prince Rama', is like the Mahabharata one of the two great classical Indian epics. Ever since its creation, the Rāmāyaṇa has been the most popular theme for narration, dramatic plays, folk perfomances, literary renderings and illustrations. The composition, in its original form, is ascribed to the poet-sage Valmiki, (ca. 3rd cent. B. C) believed to have lived in the region Kośala in Eastern India. Although Välmiki is considered to be the adikavi, the 'first, or foremost poet' of the classical Sanskrit literature, he certainly did not invent the story of Rama. He compiled the legends and ballads that had been narrated by bards and minstrels for ages, and formed one uniform heroic poem. It is believed that the original Rāmāyaṇa was composed by Valmiki in the third century B. C. in the Sanskrit language which at that time might not have been a living language anymore, as the use of local dialects for Buddhist and Jaina teachings show. But Sanskrit was always the language for literature and poetry and was well understood by the majority of the people. Valmiki's poem was surely not written down at that early stage. It was transmitted through oral tradition by bards and singers who had memorised its contents. They however, used it freely and introduced additional verses of their own creations and elaborated incidents that appealed to the audiences, like the humoristic deeds of the monkey-hero Hanumana, the didactic or religious portions, and the romantic descriptions of Sitā and Rama's love for each other and the beauty of the landscape around Lanka. Slowly the poem grew in size and took the shape of the grand epic called Rāmāyaṇa. It is believed that the present form and content of the Rāmāyaṇa were finalised towards the end of the second century A. D. Three different recensions of the text have come down to us. They have had their origins in the north-western, eastern and southern regions of India.2 These texts, although showing considerable differences in style, language and contents, have been edited as one standard critical edition of the Rāmāyaṇa of Valmiki.
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