Folio 18 from a Chandana Malayagiri Varta (Story of King Chandana and Queen Malayagiri) of Karama Chandra: Ravana battles the great vulture Jatayu and feeds him blood-covered stones (recto); Jatayu approaches Rama and Lakshmana who are wondering where Sita could be (verso)

1744–45

Folio 18 from a Chandana Malayagiri Varta (Story of King Chandana and Queen Malayagiri) of Karama Chandra: Ravana battles the great vulture Jatayu and feeds him blood-covered stones (recto); Jatayu approaches Rama and Lakshmana who are wondering where Sita could be (verso), 1744–45. Northwestern India, Rajasthan, Rajput Kingdom of Kishangarh. Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper; recto image: 13.4 x 14.9 cm (5 1/4 x 5 7/8 in.); verso image: 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.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, James Parmelee and Cornelia Blakemore Warner Funds 1968.108 Scenes pertaining to the loss and rescue of Sita have been embedded in a popular tale written by Bhadrasena, retold by the poet Karama Chandra in 1629-30. The pages from this manuscript are dispersed among many collections. Its last page, known from a photograph provided by Arun Bharany in New Delhi, includes a colophon statement. It informs us that the manuscript was written in Samvat 1802 (equivalent to 1744-45 CE) in Kishangarh for five patrons named Rikhaji, Karamchandji, Shri Jagamataji, and his son Motichandji. The scribe was a monk named Udayasagar of the Bija sect of Jainism. Reciting, hearing, and meditating on this story was thought to bring merit for ten million eons (a crore of kalpas).