Jatayu approaches Rama and Lakshmana who are wondering where Sita could be, folio 18 (verso) from a Chandana Malayagiri Varta (Story of King Chandana and Queen Malayagiri) of Karamachand (1744–45): Ar

Jatayu approaches Rama and Lakshmana who are wondering where Sita could be, folio 18 (verso) from a Chandana Malayagiri Varta (Story of King Chandana and Queen Malayagiri) of Karamachand (1744–45) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

Rama sits in front of the empty hut, while his brother Lakshmana tries to reassure him. The giant vulture Jatayu limps over a hill in the distance, still weighed down by the stones he swallowed. He approaches to tell Rama and Lakshmana that the demon Ravana abducted Sita.

Object facts

• Title: Jatayu approaches Rama and Lakshmana who are wondering where Sita could be, folio 18 (verso) from a Chandana Malayagiri Varta (Story of King Chandana and Queen Malayagiri) of Karamachand
• Date: 1744–45
• Culture: Northwestern India, Rajasthan, Rajput Kingdom of Kishangarh
• Type: Painting
• Technique: Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
• Dimensions: 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.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 1968.108.b

A detail from the museum

The folio number 18 is written in black in the lower right corner.

Collection credit

James Parmelee and Cornelia Blakemore Warner Funds

Further reading listed by the museum

• Leach, Linda York. Indian Miniature Paintings and Drawings: The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Oriental Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1986.

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.