“I do believe that the artists working in the 17th to early 19th centuries had a very different understanding of the Ramayana than we do now,” Behrendt says. The exhibition was organised by Kurt Behrendt, associate curator in the Department of Asian Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, who says that these sophisticated paintings capture the dramatic moments that make the story of the Ramayana accessible to the audiences who are not very familiar with the epic. 18th century cotton with silk, tinsel, and metal embroidery. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.Above image: Rumal with Scenes from the Ramayana. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.Īs we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content.
Ramayana painting how to#
Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)īusiness Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Wallach Foundation Fund and is being organized by Associate Curator in the Department of Asian Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art Kurt Behrendt. The exhibition is made possible by The Miriam and Ira D. "The philosophical dimension of the story finds visual expression in these images, particularly its interest in the themes of morality, kingship, and Rama's status as a divine manifestation (or avatar) of Vishnu, the museum said.
Ramayana painting series#
Other highlights include an early 19th-century masterpiece - 'Rama, Sita and Lakshmana Begin their Life in the Forest' - that represents the sophisticated late Pahari painting tradition a rare late 18th-century textile piece, 'The Combat of Rama and Ravana' and an important group of six paintings from The Shangri Ramayana series dating from 1690 to 1710 A.D. The museum said that the paintings and textiles that will be on view capture the "collective visual imagination of court artists" in their efforts to give form to the dramatic 2,500-year-old Sanskrit narrative, which consists of more than 24,000 verses. Highlights of the exhibition, which will be presented in two rotations, include a rare 19th-century painting titled 'Tantric Form of Monkey God Hanuman' that is a new addition to The Met collection and will be displayed publicly for the first time. The works will be accompanied by a number of textiles from across South Asia. The exhibition will showcase 30 "outstanding paintings" that narrate the "heroic and adventurous tale of Rama's rescue of his beloved wife, Sita" after her abduction by Ravana, the King of Lanka. "Created between the 17th and 19th centuries for the Rajput and Pahari courts of north India, the paintings in this exhibition capture the collective imagination of the Ramayana, an epic narrative composed by the Sanskrit poet Valmiki around the fifth century BC," the museum said.