Painting, council of war within tent, opaque watercolour on paper, Savantvadi, ca. 1890

Painting, in opaque watercolour on European paper, a council of war within a tent, three armed warriors with swords and shields are seated under awnings, accompanied on the left by two monkeys. The presence of the monkeys suggests that this is an illustration to the Ramayana, in which Rama is helped in his quest to regain Sita by an army of monkeys. The figures appear to be Rama, Lakshman, Sugriva and Jambavat facing another warrior, who is perhaps Vibhishana, the younger brother of Ravana and Rama's ally. The three human protagonists are labelled with faint pencilled inscriptions. If not from the Ramayana, could be a Vana Parva story.

Three armed warriors with swords and shields are seated under awnings, accompanied on the left by two monkeys.

The painting is from a series said to have been in the possession of a family of itinerant bards living in the neighbourhood of Paitman (Maharashtra) and used to illustrate recitations from the Mahabharata of which the story of Rama forms an episode in the Vana Parva. It is not clear whether this painting ia from the abbreviated story in the Vana Parva, or from a full length version of the Ramayana. It is clear that the paintings of this group belonged to more than one generation of the Chitra kathis family, and probably range in date from the beginning of the 19th century to ca. 1890. The later pages are on European paper of which some sheets are dated 1887. Most of the paintings are now in the Raja Kelkar Museum, Pune.

Although popularly attributed to Paithan in Maharashtra, it is likely that paintings like these were painted in several villages in the Savantvadi area in that state.

IS.12-1968