This picture of Lord Rama is painted on a very old leaf decorated by a text from the Ramayana at the top. Unlike decorative calligraphic texts above the Mughal paintings, the writing remains simple. Rama is depicted in his princely attire with a multi layered, stone encrusted gold crown which has pearl strings hanging down the sides. He wears earrings, armlets, and bracelets besides numerous necklaces. A garland of flowers looks pretty around his neck. On one shoulder hang his bow and a quiver of arrows rest on the other. A Kshatriya prince and weapons go hand in hand. His eyes look gentle and his expression humble as he offers flowers at the Shiva linga. A nimbus is painted around his head, and the surrounding clouds signify his divine status. But why would an avatar of Vishnu be praying to Shiva?
The myth surrounding the episode is that during his war with Ravana, the demon king, Rama was losing ground. Ravana was a very powerful king and was bestowed with numerous boons. It was not easy for Rama to hold ground against him for long. He prayed to Shiva's Shakti to grant him power: if he won, he would offer one hundred and one lotus flowers as a token of gratitude. Finally, he won and in order to fulfill his promise, he went to offer his floral tribute. Unfortunately he could find first a hundred flowers. Rama could give up his life but could not go back on his word. Another name for Rama was 'Kamalnayana', the lotus eyes. He was about to gorge out one of his eyes instead of one lotus flower when Shakti appeared and stopped him.
The episode and the iconographic image of Rama are complimentary to each other. The bright and the dull colors are juxtaposed to bring out the best visual effect. The surrounding clouds are painted in curls to give the painting a mystic flavor.
This description by Renu Rana.
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