Das Avataras, Ten Incarnations of Vishnu (verso), from a Kalighat album (c. 1890): Art, History and Details

Das Avataras, Ten Incarnations of Vishnu (verso), from a Kalighat album (c. 1890) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Shri Gobinda Chandra Roy (Indian, active late 1800s).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This hastily hand-colored woodcut depicts a set of ten avatars, or incarnations, of the Hindu god Vishnu as recognized in 1800s Bengal. In each avatar, Vishnu descended to earth in order restore balance and order to the world. In the top register, from left to right, are Vishnu’s avatars as fish, tortoise, boar, man-lion, and Brahmin. Below are Parashurama, Rama, Krishna, Jagannath, and Kalki. The image of Rama shows him after his victory over the demon Ravana. He sits with Sita, crowned, holding bow and arrow. His monkey general Hanuman stands before him in a gesture of adoration.

Object facts

• Title: Das Avataras, Ten Incarnations of Vishnu (verso), from a Kalighat album
• Date: c. 1890
• Creator attribution: Shri Gobinda Chandra Roy (Indian, active late 1800s)
• Culture: Eastern India, Bengal, Kolkata, Kalighat
• Type: Painting
• Technique: Woodcut, hand colored with gum tempera
• Dimensions: Secondary Support: 29.9 x 48.5 cm (11 3/4 x 19 1/8 in.); Painting only: 28.3 x 42.7 cm (11 1/8 x 16 13/16 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 2003.114.b

A detail from the museum

The hero Rama is can be seen in the lower register, second from left, with his wife Sita and devotee Hanuman.

Collection credit

Gift of William E. Ward in memory of his wife, Evelyn Svec Ward

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.