c. 1744–45
Gum tempera and ink on paper
Image (side A): 13.4 x 14.9 cm (5 1/4 x 5 7/8 in.); Image (side B): 14.9 x 14.8 cm (5 7/8 x 5 13/16 in.); Page: 28.8 x 20 cm (11 5/16 x 7 7/8 in.)
James Parmelee and Cornelia Blakemore Warner Funds 1968.108
The blood-covered stones will weigh the bird down, so he cannot rescue Sita.
Scenes of the rescue of Sita by Rama are embedded within a popular tale written in a Gujarati-Rajasthani vernacular language. Many details differ from the more well-known Ramayana of Valmiki. The artist shows Ravana as a royal, human figure carrying Sita in a white sack slung over one shoulder. As Jatayu, the Lord of Birds and ally of Rama, attempts to rescue her, Ravana attacks him with a sword then feeds him stones that he covered in blood, so Jatayu would swallow them. The bird becomes weighed down, and Ravana succeeds in abducting Sita and taking him to Lanka.
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