Page 10 - Pundole's - The Fine Art Sale Including Classical Paintings - M0029

Lot 5 detail

The Ramayana – Seeing with the Transfiguring Eyes of Love

The Ramayana remained one of the most popular stories dharma, the right behaviour. Rama is revered as the ideal
amongst the rulers of Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. man in Hindu thought, and the sacrifices he makes in the
Being ardent devotees of Vishnu, the Rajas naturally epic are regarded as the duty of a king. The message
commissioned manuscripts of the Ramayana, the legend of dharma and the triumph of good over evil, must have
of Rama, the young prince of Ayodhya and the seventh clearly appealed to the Rajput rulers and patrons of art,
incarnation of Vishnu, in his search for his wife Sita, who who themselves lived by a strict code of conduct and valour.
is carried off by the wicked demon-king Ravana. After a The poetry of the Ramayana is full of detailed portrayals
battle against all odds, the divine couple returns to Ayodhya of lush flora and fauna, which also becomes the focus of
and usher in the golden age of the Kingdom. The epic the artists who were commissioned to illustrate the text.
was first composed in Sanskrit by the sage Valmiki, but
later appeared in several regional versions with localised The production of the Uniara Ramayana manuscript began
modifications and added embellishments. during the reign of Raja Sardar Singh of Uniara (r. 1740–
1777) (see lot 1). Although originally a minor principality,
There are several themes embodied in the epic of the Uniara became a major painting atelier by the mid-18th
Ramayana, most important being the Hindu concept of century, and was regarded as an offshoot of the Bundi

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