Jatayu hinders Ravana’s chariot, trying to prevent the abduction of Sita (recto), from a Kalighat album (c. 1890): Art, History and Details

Jatayu hinders Ravana’s chariot, trying to prevent the abduction of Sita (recto), from a Kalighat album (c. 1890) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

With his colossal u-shaped beak and green wings, the ruler of the vultures, Jatayu, appears assured of victory against the multiheaded demon lord Ravana. This scene, the battle between Jatayu and Ravana, was especially subject to variation. In the Bengali Ramayana, Jatayu initially swallows Ravana—aerial chariot and all—but vomits the villain when he realizes Sita, the wife of his friend Rama, is also aboard. Later, Ravana fatally wounds Jatayu and takes Sita as his prisoner. Doing so sets in motion the events that lead to Ravana’s downfall at the hands of Rama, the only being capable of ending the demon’s reign.

Object facts

• Title: Jatayu hinders Ravana’s chariot, trying to prevent the abduction of Sita (recto), from a Kalighat album
• Date: c. 1890
• Culture: Eastern India, Bengal, Kalighat
• Type: Painting
• Technique: Gum tempera, graphite, and tin on paper
• Dimensions: Painting: 30.4 x 25.5 cm (11 15/16 x 10 1/16 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 2003.109.a

A detail from the museum

The underdrawing of this painting was done in graphite and is visible in some areas.

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.