Ramayana in Pahari Miniature Painting

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

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The Ramayana In Pahari Miniature Painting
minute sketching. The active persons are the brothers Rama and Lakṣmaṇa, Rama's consort Sita, the leaders of the army Vibhiṣaṇa, Sugriva and Hanumana, the king of the demons Rāvana, his son Indrajit and the numerous warriors of the monkey and demon army. The human heroes, Rama, Lakṣmaṇa, Vibhisana and Indrajit, and even Ravana are characterised by a strong, well-built body with protruding breast parts, clear-cut faces with enlarged, almond-shaped eyes. Their costumes are similar a coat-like garment reaching below the knees with long sleeves, and a wide skirt with many plaits (gherdār jāmā). In the cases of Rama, Lakṣmaṇa and Vibhiṣana, a chain-like texture is discernable on the garment alluding to their wearing of the protective warrior-west made of interwoven iron-chains. A long and broad cloth girdle with colourful embroidery on the ends, is wound around the waists, and high-reaching riding-boots protect the legs of the warriors. They all have towering triangular caps which are kept secure on the head by a narrow red band of cloth. The rather serious expressions on the faces of Rama and Lakṣmaṇa are due to their small mouths, thin lips, slightly recessing chins and dark black eyebrows of evenly curved semi-circle lines.
The leaders of the monkey-army, Hanumana, Sugriva, Angada, and Nila, wear short trousers, with a waist-band wrapped around the stomach. Often their heads are topped with richly decorated and jewelled crowns. The bear-leader Sugriva has a black body and the glowing white ornaments contrasting well with it. The other three monkey-leaders have darkish snouts with a deep-cut line for their mouths and peculiar, wide-open and alert looking eyes, similar to those in the aranyakanda leaves of the Rāmāyaṇa of ca. 1720.
Rāvana, the king of the demons has a long jāmā on, like Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa. This is, however, closed on the left side. His ten heads are arranged in a long horizontal row, one next to the other. They are kept together by a seven-pointed crown. In his numerous arms he is holding various weapons which are placed in a circle around his body giving the impression as if they are whirling around his body. The iconography of Ravana remains similar in the miniatures of the successive centuries in Pahari painting. The demon king Ravana in the Rāmāyaṇa series depicted by painter Ranjha in A. D. 1816 clearly displays a resemblance to the Ravana of the earlier series. Ranjha worked during the rule of Raja Bhupendrapal
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