Ravana battles the great vulture Jatayu and feeds him blood-covered stones, folio (recto) from a Chandana Malayagiri Varta (Story of King Chandana and Queen Malayagiri) of Karama Chandra

1744–45

Ravana battles the great vulture Jatayu and feeds him blood-covered stones, folio (recto) from a Chandana Malayagiri Varta (Story of King Chandana and Queen Malayagiri) of Karama Chandra, 1744–45. Northwestern India, Rajasthan, Rajput Kingdom of Kishangarh. Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper; image: 13.4 x 14.9 cm (5 1/4 x 5 7/8 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.a Scenes of the abduction and rescue of Sita are embedded within a popular tale re-written in a Gujarati-Rajasthani vernacular language by the poet Karama Chandra in 1629-30. 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 her to Lanka. The blood-covered stones will weigh the bird down, so he cannot rescue Sita.