Rituals
Historical background
Weddings and festivals provide the artists with a scope to explore religious rituals and at the same time courtly etiquette, dress, and ornaments in great detail.
Date: 18th century
Description: Top row (from left): Bharata learns to walk; Vasisthta teaches the princes reading, writing, wrestling. Central row: He teaches them horse and elephant riding. Bottom row (from right): He trains them in archery. Dasharatha feeds the Brahmins. The four princes on the lap of their father and mothers sit opposite Vasishtha performing a ritual.
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Kallalagar Temple complex;Alagar Koyil
Positioning: Vasanta mandapa; central pavilion, ceiling, south side
Date: 18th century
Description: Top row (from left): The sages prepare to
celebrate a yajna. The princes weave a canopy of arrows to protect it from being polluted by the rakshasas. They kill Subahu, and Maricha hit by an arrow is propelled into the ocean. Bottom row (from right): Vishvamitra praises the youths and after having rested, they resume their way towards Mithila.
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Kallalagar Temple complex;Alagar Koyil
Positioning: Vasanta mandapa; central pavilion, ceiling, west side
Date: 18th century, partly obliterated by whitewash
Description: Top row (from left): The Ayodhya party and the Mithila party meet; Vasishtha and Shatananda embrace one another, so do Dasharatha and Janaka. Bottom row: Attendants dress and adorn Rama, Bharata, Lakshmana and Shatrughna; On the right, three attendants dress Sita.
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Kallalagar Temple complex;Alagar Koyil
Positioning: Vasanta mandapa; east wall, north of the door
Date: 18th century, partly obliterated by whitewash
Description: Top row (from left): King Janaka’s elephants and retainers; Rama and Lakshmana welcome the queens, their brothers and bow before king Dasharatha and the sage Vasishtha. The last scene is damaged. Bottom row (from left): The three princesses are dressed and adorned for their wedding; On the right: three dignitaries approach the rulers (?).
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Kallalagar Temple complex;Alagar Koyil
Positioning: Vasanta mandapa; east wall, north of the door
Date: 18th century, partly obliterated by whitewash
Description: King Dasharatha, Vasishtha and Sumantra in council; A carpenter decorates the tower of a building with flags; The royal insignias, an elephant and a horse are readied for Rama’s consecration; Kuni (Manthara) sees all these activities from a terrace. Bottom row:
The citizens of Ayodhya accompany the
exiles until the river. Sumantra drives them to the forest, where they take leave of him. They don the garb of the ascetics. To the right: two forest-dwellers (?).
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Kallalagar Temple complex;Alagar Koyil
Positioning: Vasanta mandapa; south wall
Date: 18th century, damaged by splashes of whitewash
Description: Top row: Two messengers on their way to king Kekaya’s country; One of them hands Vasishtha’s letter to the king at the presence of his court priest, Bharata and Shatrughna. Bottom row: Bharata and Shatrughna, back in Ayodhya, partecipate in the preparations for Dasharatha’s cremation.
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Kallalagar Temple complex;Alagar Koyil
Positioning: Vasanta mandapa, south west corner
Date: 18th century, partly obliterated by splashes of whitewash
Description: Top row: Partly illegible because of the whitewash splashes; Bharata and Shatrughna ride back to Ayodhya. Their wives follow in palanaquins. Bottom row: Preparations for Dasharatha’s funeral; Vasishtha places the bow on the body of the king; Funeral procession; Bharata sets the pyre ablaze. From this point a substantial part of the lower register has disappeared.
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Kallalagar Temple complex;Alagar Koyil
Positioning: Vasanta mandapa, west wall
Date: 18th century, damaged by splashes of whitewash
Description: Bharata, Shatrughna and their wives are welcomed on their return to Ayodhya.
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Kallalagar Temple complex;Alagar Koyil
Positioning: Vasanta mandapa, west wall
Date: 18th century, partly obliterated and damaged by splashes of whitewash
Description: Top row: The sage Bharadvaja (?) and the four princes perform the shraddha rituals for king Dasharatha; (On the right): Rama -Sita and Lakshmana seated behind him- talks to Bharata, Shatrughna and a third person. Bottom row: Fragments depicting the wanderings of the exiles in the forest and their meetings with various ascetics.
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Kallalagar Temple complex;Alagar Koyil
Positioning: Vasanta mandapa; west wall
Date: 18th century, partly obliterated by whitewash
Description: Top row: Sita, concealed in a cave is guarded by Lakshmana; Once the rakshasas are defeated the life of the three exiles goes back to normal; Lakshmana accompanies Sita back to Rama and resumes his guard duty outside their hut; (on the left) In Lanka Shurpanakha approaches her brother Ravana. Bottom row: On their search for Sita, Rama and Lakshmana meet the dying vulture Jatayu; The remains of Ravana’s charioteer are strewn around him. Jatayu dies and the brothers perform the final rites. Resuming their search they meet the rakshasi Ayomukhi who falls in love with Lakshmana. Annoyed by her advances, he cuts her ears and nose.
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Kallalagar Temple complex;Alagar Koyil
Positioning: Vasanta mandapa, north wall
Date: 18th century
Description: Top row 1 (from left): In Kishkindha, Rama, Lakshmana and Hanuman confer with Sugriva; Sugriva challenges Vali; Sugriva seeks Rama’s advice; Lakshmana and Hanuman are shown behind Rama. Bottom register 2 ctd. (from left): Vali’s cremation; Sugriva and the other monkeys pay homage to Rama and Lakshmana; Sugriva’s consecration; Tara sits at his side.
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Kallalagar Temple complex;Alagar Koyil
Positioning: Vasanta mandapa; east corridor, ceiling, north east corner
Date: 18th century
Description: Top row 1, ctd. (from left): Rama garlands Sugriva; Tara, Vali’s wife, tries to dissuade him from fighting against Sugriva; Sugriva challenges Vali; The two engage in a duel and, concealed behind a tree, Rama aims an arrow at Vali; Bottom row 2 ctd. (from right): Rama, Lakshmana and Sugriva gather around the dying Vali, who is comforted by Tara and his son Angada; Rama extracts the arrow from Vali’s chest and the latter dies; Rama and Lakshmana confer with Angada (?); Vali’s cremation.
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Kallalagar Temple complex;Alagar Koyil
Positioning: Vasanta mandapa, east corridor, ceiling, northeast corner
« Previous 1 … 4 5 6 7 8 … 27 Next »