Rama and Sita in the royal palace (recto), from a Kalighat album (c. 1890): Art, History and Details

Rama and Sita in the royal palace (recto), 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:

The finale of the Ramayana presents Rama and Sita enthroned as the rightful rulers of the kingdom of Ayodhya. They are surrounded by Rama’s brothers, their loyal monkey allies, sages, and nobles. The balanced, symmetrical composition evokes the peace and stability that Rama’s millennia-long reign will bring to the kingdom. The artist has anachronistically set the scene in an 1800s Calcutta mansion, complete with glass sconces and lamps hanging from the ceiling. Since Calcutta (now Kolkata) was the epicenter of British colonial power, this imagery suggests a desire to reinstate Hindu rulership over India.

Object facts

• Title: Rama and Sita in the royal palace (recto), from a Kalighat album
• Date: c. 1890
• Creator attribution: Shri Gobinda Chandra Roy (Indian, active late 1800s)
• Culture: Eastern India, Bengal, Kolkata, Kalighat
• Type: Print
• Technique: Woodcut, hand colored with gum tempera
• Dimensions: Secondary Support: 29.7 x 47.7 cm (11 11/16 x 18 3/4 in.); Print only: 24.1 x 33 cm (9 1/2 x 13 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 2003.156.a

A detail from the museum

Rama's devoted monkey followers Hanuman and Sugriva are seated before the throne.

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.