Queen Kaikeyi reminds King Dasharatha about the sacrifices of King Bali and King Shivi, folio 39 from the Ayodhya Kanda (Book of Ayodhya) of a Ramayana (Rama's Journey) (c. 1710): Art, History and Det

Queen Kaikeyi reminds King Dasharatha about the sacrifices of King Bali and King Shivi, folio 39 from the Ayodhya Kanda (Book of Ayodhya) of a Ramayana (Rama's Journey) (c. 1710) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

A large portion of this composition is dominated by the episode of Vishnu’s manifestation as Trivikrama in Raja Bali’s sacrifice. Vishnu stands monumentally with his one foot on the ground and the other foot reaching to heaven where Brahma washes Vishnu’s foot with Ganges water in devotion. Raja Bali is shown giving the sacrifice to Vamana, the brahmin incarnation of Vishnu.

Object facts

• Title: Queen Kaikeyi reminds King Dasharatha about the sacrifices of King Bali and King Shivi, folio 39 from the Ayodhya Kanda (Book of Ayodhya) of a Ramayana (Rama's Journey)
• Date: c. 1710
• Culture: Northwestern India, Rajasthan, Rajput Kingdom of Mewar, Court of Amar Singh II (reigned 1698–1710)
• Type: Painting
• Technique: gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
• Dimensions: Overall: 20 x 38.2 cm (7 7/8 x 15 1/16 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 2018.142

A detail from the museum

The scenes outside the room illustrate and expand further on what the queen, at left, is saying.

Collection credit

Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Singh, Parul. "Eighteenth-Century Illustrated Ramayana Sets." In Book of Gold: The Kanchana Chitra Ramayana of Banaras, edited by Kavita Singh and Parul Singh, 89–103. Bengaluru: Museum of Art & Photography, 2023.

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.