Shrine
19th century (made)
19th century (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
The shrine is cast in seven pieces, with the central pair of Rama sitting in lalitasana with the smaller Sita (holding a lotus flower) on his left knee. The figures are in "Ganga-Jamuna" technique, the figures' flesh is cast in copper, while their clothing and jewellery is cast in brass; the base and arch are copper coloured. As usual Rama has only two arms, the right in vitarka mudra, the left holding Sita. The pair slots into a raised throne in the centre of the base. Four other figures fit into other slots. At the front is Hanuman, the monkey deity devoted to Rama. and a figure holding two fly-whisks (chauri), probably Rama's half-brother Shatrughna. At the back, standing with a bow over his shoulder and his palm together in the anjali mudra worship gesture is the recognisable figure of Rama's closest brother, Lakshmana. The other figure, posed to hold a (missing) bow and arrow may well be the half brother, Bharata. The figures have little or no wear. They now do not fit comfortably into their slots but certainly seem to belong together. The base and arch are fairly typical but the base has three incised lotus roundels on its upper surface.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | |
| Materials and techniques | Ganga Jamuna, brass and copper casting |
| Brief description | Rama shrine cast in 'Ganga Jumana' technique in copper and brass, South India, late 18th or early 19th century |
| Physical description | The shrine is cast in seven pieces, with the central pair of Rama sitting in lalitasana with the smaller Sita (holding a lotus flower) on his left knee. The figures are in "Ganga-Jamuna" technique, the figures' flesh is cast in copper, while their clothing and jewellery is cast in brass; the base and arch are copper coloured. As usual Rama has only two arms, the right in vitarka mudra, the left holding Sita. The pair slots into a raised throne in the centre of the base. Four other figures fit into other slots. At the front is Hanuman, the monkey deity devoted to Rama. and a figure holding two fly-whisks (chauri), probably Rama's half-brother Shatrughna. At the back, standing with a bow over his shoulder and his palm together in the anjali mudra worship gesture is the recognisable figure of Rama's closest brother, Lakshmana. The other figure, posed to hold a (missing) bow and arrow may well be the half brother, Bharata. The figures have little or no wear. They now do not fit comfortably into their slots but certainly seem to belong together. The base and arch are fairly typical but the base has three incised lotus roundels on its upper surface. |
| Dimensions |
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| Object history | Transfered from the India Museum in London to the South Kensington Museum ( now the V&A) in 1879. The India Museum Slips number this piece 367 and record it soming from Colonel MacKenzie. Colonel Colin Mackenzie was a British antiquarian who completed a major survey of the Mysore kingdom in southern India and became the first Surveyor General of India in 1815. Born in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland, in 1754, Mackenzie travelled to India in 1783 as an Infantry cadet in the 78th Seaforth Highlanders but in 1786 transferred to become an Engineer in the Madras Army. He spent the remainder of his life in Asia, much of it in southern India, where he carried out a survey of the Nizam of Hyderabad's Dominions (1792-8) and the Mysore Survey (1799-1810), although he also worked in other parts of India and in Java (1811-13). He died in Calcutta in 1821. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 646(IS) |
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| Record created | July 31, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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