This image has illustrated king Dasarata’s journey to Mithila for Rama’s wedding. Dasaratha is going to Mithila from Ayodhya to his son Rama’s wedding with Sita with his royal army. The happiness and joy for the wedding party of guests and the king’s has expressed out in the image. It is a very colorful image. Red, yellow, and green these colors has been used a lot. The king is wearing a dark yellow color dress, has crown on his head, a sword in his waist   and sitting on the top of the horse car with his two maids. One of the made is sitting in front of him and the other one is sitting in the back holding an umbrella. The way the image of the king has drawn it makes him different from everyone else, illustrates that he is the king and shows his importance. In addition, all the guests are wearing colorful dresses. They have held colorful flags, playing flutes and drums. The horse cars have been decorated too with colorful clothes. Playing flutes, drums, wearing colorful clothes and holding colorful flags, all of these things symbolize that this is a wedding rally. In addition, the artist has used color a lot in this image and that makes the image a wedding rally image because color is a symbol of Asian wedding. The use of variety of colors, the dressing style and the decoration has expressed it out that this is an image of a wedding rally. In addition, the image has also expressed that people are very happy and interested about the wedding.

This image is the part of the story when Dasaratha went to Mithila from Ayodhya for his son Rama’s wedding with his royal army and guests. “The line of movement was continuous from Ayodhya to Mithila. King Dasaratha’s party was the last one to arrive” (page 31, the Ramayana). The book has described that when Dasaratha went to Janaka’s palace with his army, then Janaka came to receive him with his wife. However, it has not been shown in the image. The book has also described about their journey that they had traveled a long way from Ayodhya to Mithila , and stopped at some places for resting . Dasaratha has performed some religious rituals before starting his journey for Rama’s wedding. “Dasaratha , after performing his daily duties and religious rites and presentation of gifts to Brahmins , started to leave his palace”( page 31, The Ramayana). The book has emphasized more on their rituals and their journey. The image has just illustrated the wedding rally . The image has emphasized more on the dressing style and decoration.

The painting is really focusing on the scene when the evil Ravana is trying to capture Rama beautiful wife, Sita. I chose this illustration because this was the image that attracted me the most. Looking at this painting that focuses on how Ravana transforms  into someone else reminds me of The Odyssey, comparing Ravana to Athena, She also had the ability of a shifter. In this illustration the artist forces is audience to observe Sita and Ravana actions. Ravana is drawn in the position as a beggar. You can get a sense as if his trying to convey Sita to trust him. Then Sita is basically expressing her rejection from him. The action on how people are drawn or are shown are very important because it affects how the audiences thinks and portraying there opinions. Looking at Sita’s hands and arms, as well as position depicts her rejection towards the Ravana. One her arms are out towards him and palms are facing him, meaning no. And second her head is turned to the other direction, turning away from him. Sita’s beauty is very much portrayed in this illustration. Her beautify is emphasized in the poem and it’s the reason why Ravana is obsessed with her. The artist draws her looking very attractive, but whats interesting is how he clothed her. She is wearing a long skirt that’s hiding her legs with a see through top exposing her breast. The forest is shown in the background making it be very peaceful but your not attentive to that. Your attention is how invasive Ravana is with Sita.

Reading this scene in the poem is not how i was imaging it in my mind. The transformation or Ravana is how I image him to look, illustrated to look kind and similar type. From the poem I had the image of Sita not being rejecting.”I am a sanyasi. I cannot enter your home. To accept your gracious offering you must leave your home.” She didn’t not get any feeling of bring harmed. I seen her as she took pity of the Ravana who was in  disguised. The image doesn’t portray how he was able to fool Rita in to capturing her. And also looking the throne with carpet that’s surrounding her in this image is was quite told in the story. I assumed that the throne he drew represents the home of her’s.

This image it suggesting movement, starting for the little characters that are in the top of the image with their hands in away from their body and their hands open as they throw little drops. Because these little dots are not in line or just in a same spot they look like they are falling. Also the characters in the bottom of the image are with their arms in movement as well. We notice it for the bend it elbow, some instruments in their hands that shows that they are offering or using their arms to make those elements work.

It is a very colorful image, on one hand the bottom part is yellow and that is a vivid color that reflects life. In the other hand the top part its sky blue making similitude with the sky. It’s a way for the artist to divide two worlds in the same image, god’s world vs. real world.

Is a very realistic image where you can see the story telling in the Ramayana happening. It shows their characters, Dasaratha’s son Rama his brother  Lakshmana and the married couple of Ahalya and his husband the sage Gautama. On the top look like they are the gods that are controlling the stories happening in the Ramayana and that intervene in the scenes for give a moral lesson. For example; when the god Brahma did not let Indra get married with the beauty of Ahalya, for his ‘presumptuosness’ (1.19). Also as we can see the gods intervening when Ahalyas became a stone because she was not faithful enough to his husband and that was the price that she gets from the gods to be purified (1.21) Also this image its showing us that this had happened when Rama’s passed by Gautama’s heritage, because Ahalyas it is not a stone anymore its with her husband and Rama and his brother Lakshmana.

Ramayana: Death of King Dasharatha, The Father of Rama (Dasharatha is the name they used labeling the picture, which is different from the name in our book.)

In the picture linked above, the artist shows the death of the former King Dasaratha dying shortly after being forced to banish his son Rama to keep an oath. The image shows the people around the former king grieving. It also shows us that the king is old through the use of gray and white for his hair. The vibrant colors used in the picture show us that the former king died in his palace which is full of color as opposed to a commoner’s home. The faces of the women in the picture are darker than Dasaratha’s skin which shows us that they’re mourning. There are what appears to be clouds at the top of the painting, one of which is black which is fitting to the theme of death and grief.

In the story the focused more on Dasaratha’s grief that he’d exiled his son fulfilling an oath from Kaikeyi. While most of his death scene is comprised of him forsaking Kaikeyi and Bharatha and regretting his oath to Kaikeyi, the picture shows the king already dead and women around him mourning. The picture could not display the anger and despair that Dasaratha was displaying in the book. The picture helps us imagine how the environment around the king was during his death, while the book focuses on the emotions of the king and those around him. When Dasaratha says,”You are no longer my wife and your son shall not be entitled to cremate me when I die”, he shows his anger towards what Kaikeyi made him do. The painting only shows the grief of the death of the king while the book showed the grief and rage the king felt when he passed.

Rama breaks the bow for Sita’s hand in marriage

At first glance, it seems as though focal point is the bow; it’s being raised over all their heads by Rama, your eye is drawn to it. It seems like it should be the focus of the piece, but while your eye does get to it eventually, the center figure in this piece is actually Sita. That’s really interesting because if I were the artist I’d make the focus Rama’s incredible feat, but while this artist clearly emphasized its importance, the focus is clearly on Sita. Sita is portrayed passively, her head is bowed and she is offering a necklace or garland(or maybe holding it in prayer?) Rama is surprisingly small? I expected from the description that he would be larger, more broad shouldered, but assuming that Rama is the blue one, he is rather slight in frame. He is as tall as Sita, in fact his proportions are all in line with hers. He’s still a youth in this part of the story, but this is definitely remarkable because even though some women have been portrayed as powerful in the story so far, they are always subservient to the men. A physical representation of this power imbalance is something I would have expected, but the only thing that suggests this is Rama’s head lifted upward while Sita’s is lowered.

There are probably different translations and versions of the Ramayana, because I don’t believe that Sita was present for the bow-breaking, in fact, she was inquiring after the fact to the messenger as to whether this was the same guy she saw and became infatuated with earlier. I guess that my interpretation of the text I’ve read so far is different from what the artist portrays. The artistic rendition, as “m.ruiz” mentioned is that the atmosphere is very still, peaceful even. For me, this was an intense and captivating and suspenseful part of the story; this artistic portrayal does not reflect that. I understand the art style limits this type of expression, but this scene, if it were to be interpreted in an animated way, would not carry the feeling that the text evokes; instead it is one of heroism after the fact. The text is much more suspenseful, “…Rama approached the bow with slow dignity…onlookers held their breath and watched” (26). It’s very cinematic to me. But for the artist, there is no use for this interpretation. I suppose this is because Rama, as the god Vishnu incarnate, is obviously the hero. It’s obvious that he would have displayed extraordinary strength where other suitors would not. There is no question in the artist’s eye that this is an obvious outcome to that scene, and that there is no reason to interpret it in any way that would cast doubt on Rama’s powers.

Reviewing the various paintings on Artstor, I was surprised to see that I had envisioned the characters completely differently. I think this because of film and picture that I am used to. The drawings are very crude when compared to modern day realist art, but it gives off an interesting homey feeling. The images seems to depict when Ahalya was turned from stone back into human form by Rama. I think that the two left characters are Ahalya because of how similar their appearances are, they seem to have inverted colors (the black body white dress being stone form and the the white body black dress being human form). But after longer analysis I realized that they might be the brothers and the person on the right is Ahalya since the two people on the left are both carrying bow and arrows. Using my hypothesis, I googled an image of Rama and Lakshama and both appeared as the men on the left. I think not having an original image of Rama to put in my mind hindered my ability to piece together this situation, since I had no idea what he looked like he could’ve either been dark skinned or contained feminine features. Another clue was that Rama is in the middle of the picture! I figured that the person in the middle may hold more importance and that pushed me to investigate further (by googling images).

After realizing Rama could be a different skin color and this photo could represent a scene post un-stoning Ahalya I understood the picture better. I think it would be interesting to read the story as a picture book and look at the characters and their characteristics from the beginning and to see them evolve throughout the book. In the picture there seems to be emphasis on the bows that the brothers are holding (possibly to make a viewer like me understand that they are actually the brothers) where as in the book they make no mention of them in this scene because it would be unnecessary clutter. Also in the book they make no mention of Ahalya’s thanks but in this picture it is obviously noted. In Ramayana the author only writes, “Your wife is restored to her normal form […] Go and take her back.” and immediately continue on with the rest of the story, “All this accomplished, they moved on …”. This examples show how the illustration needs to depict things that aren’t described in the story in order to tell it’s story without words.

“So off they went and soon enough
they mingled with the natives, Lotus easers, Lotus eaters
who had no notion of killing my companions, not at all,
they simply gave them the lotus to taste instead…
Any crewman who ate the lotus, the honey-sweet fruit,
lost all desire to send a message back, much less return,
their only wish to linger there with the Lotus-eaters,
grazing on lotus, all memory of the journey home
dissolved forever.”

What is inside of the lotus that makes the crewman not want to leave? Is there a deeper meaning to the longing for the fruit? Furthermore, I also felt that this passage was possibly an allusion to the bible and the story of Adam and Eve.

Similar to the bible story with Adam and Eve, once the “special fruit” was eaten the humans changed. In the Odyssey the crewman were “paralyzed” and made unable to render actives other then eating the lotus, in the bible Adam and Eve realized their “nakedness.” In both examples, the humans lost their ability to function as they were prior to their indulgence in the fruit. After eating the fruit the crew didn’t want to do anything else. Looking further into the situation we see how Adam and Eve were given hardships such as living painful human lives filled with birth, hunger, etc. In the Odyssey, Odysseus and his men bear the troubles that occur post this section of the story such as his crew encountering the fight with Cyclops, his crew opening the bag of wind from Aeolus, Odysseus being trapped by Calypso, etc. Each and every one of these examples are hardships the crew faced (similar to the hardships Adam and Eve faced) that can be possibly categorized as punishment for the crewman who eat the fruit. Additionally, I feel as if this passage can hold a further meaning, which is that it is another example of temptation within the poem.

I just saw that this was saved in my drafts instead of published. Sorry for the late post.

http://library.artstor.org.remote.baruch.cuny.edu/library/secure/ViewImages?id=8zZXajAhOy81MUA7eD94QHssXnwp&userId=hD1AfDwu&zoomparams=

The image I selected is titled, “Battle against Ravana”. It is illustrating a battle scene. The battle according to the description seems to be between the two opposing forces. God Vishnu in the guise of the son Kind Rama, defeats (with the help of the monkey king Hanuman) the demon king Ten-Headed Ravana. The artist draws the two forces nearly about to clash, on the left side, this is where God Vishnu is sitting on what seems to be a rock and holding a bow. On his side, all the soldiers are monkey’s, using trees from the ground as weapons. On the other side there are creatures with horns in all different shapes and colors riding on horses, with their leader (Ten-Headed Ravana) riding alongside them on a chariot. The artist places him right in the middle of his men, on an elevated platform showing his importance. This illustration is clearly demonstrating action, since they’re right in the middle of a major battle. What stood out the most to me was what the artist painted on the top-left corner, the soldiers (the monkeys) from the King Rama side have their backs against the battle and they seem as if they’re fleeing the scene.

In the book, right in the beginning the author R.K. Narayan talks about Ravana stating, “The Ten-headed Ravana and his brothers have acquired from us extraordinary powers through austerities and prayers, and now threaten to destroy our worlds and enslave us. They go on along recklessly in their career of tranny, suppressing all virtue and goodness wherever found” (4). This explains why the there’s a battles going on in the image I selected, one side wants to completely annihilate the other. Also in the book the author explains why God Vishnu’s army consists of monkeys, Ravana was cursed in earlier times to expect defeat/ destruction only from a monkey (5). This clearly shows that the images that we viewed are not just images, there are many interpretations embedded within them.

http://library.artstor.org.remote.baruch.cuny.edu/library/secure/ViewImages?id=%2FDFMaiMuOztdLS04ejp5SXYrXQ%3D%3D&userId=hzdCcjMg&zoomparams=

Encapsulated by the mountains, the viewer is presented with a group cut off from the world. As I look at the image, the environment grabbed my attention. The painter has secluded the gods and the wise elder from interruptions, while leaving them intertwined with their surroundings. In such an environment their mind is able to roam free, open to any interpretations and advice presented to them. The image is simplistic yet powerful, showing the importance elders play in Hindu culture. Surrounded by gods, the elder is the center piece as the warm colors surround him. His importance is noted as the others pay close attention to him. Their faces are engaging showing interest and respect for the elder. The painter displays the gods respect for elders as they are walking computers. Elders are able to pass down knowledge, traditions, and religion to their audience, preserving Hindu culture while shaping persons to mature into stronger and wiser persons. The viewer should be open to anything, as the mind is always learning. Each moment in life is a lesson to be learned.

In chapter one of The Ramayana, the reader is taken on a journey with Viswamithra as he is set to carry out a Yagna. Under his wing, Rama and Lakshmana accompany him, learning and protecting Viswamithra. While traveling Viswamithra tells stories of past gods, depicting troubles they faced. Each story has a moral to be learned, allowing the brothers to grow from each story told. While the brothers face challenges, they display intelligence and valor, able to handle each predicament with god like experience. Much like the painting, the gods are absorbing knowledge being passed onto them by a wise one. The painting is able to depict prose much like the text with a deeper meaning. An image has a broader interpretation factor, while text can be analyzed to a certain extent. Take for instance the following quote, “Under a relentless sun, all vegetation had dried and turned to dust, stone and rock crumbled into powdery sand, which lay in vast dunes, stretching away to the horizon.” Containing a detailed description, the text paints the reader a painting of what the characters are experiencing, yet it cannot grasp what a painting is able to paint. Vivid, paintings are able to mess with your mind, pushing you to think harder, seeing what cannot be seen. It pushes the viewer to think on a broader base as the sight of something can differ from just reading about it. With sight, you are able to imagine yourself in a characters shoes more clearly. In almost all cases of art, you put yourself in the painters mind pondering what led he/she to create the piece. With prose however, you must read an entire text to get the full picture, while art is instantaneously. For me I am able to get more from a picture rather than reading text.

As I was looking at The Ramayana art depictions on Artstor, I was surprised to find that none of the works looked like I would have expected them to. Although the story has supernatural elements in it, I honestly just pictured Rama as a stereotypical African tribe member one would see in a movie. Granted, I realize my imagined version of Rama makes no sense since this is an Indian Epic and not an African one. Still, I much prefer the image I created in my head as opposed to the image created in this painting. It looks too peaceful and simple; The Ramayana is not a simple story. The starry sky and full moon set a tranquil, almost romantic vibe. The nice tree on the left is not special. It is not large or cool looking; it is just a simple tree. The mountain Rama and his brother are sitting on looks pretty. It swirls like ice cream would on an ice cream cone. I realize that is a bit of an odd way to think about it but regardless of how it is explained, it looks nice. It is not a rugged mountain that these two men are forced to spend the night on because they have no where else to go and they are too sad to look for anything better. Rama and Lakshmana’s search for Sita is not easy; it is filled with pain and sometimes doubt. There should be nothing pretty about it. I see a weird looking tree on the right that is not pleasant looking but it is not weird looking enough to be special. Most importantly, Rama and his brother look way too content. A man who has had his wife abducted by a scary creature with too many heads partly due to his own foolishness should not look content. His brother should not look content since he was the one who left Sita alone when Rama had told him to stay with her. At least Lakshmana is looking at Rama in the picture. This makes sense to me since Lakshmana has an extreme emotional dependence on Rama, “I am alive only when I am with you; a forest or a marble palace is all the same to me” (Narayan, 53).

The men are the most colorful things in the painting so most of the attention is on them which also makes sense since they are two main characters in the story. Rama and Lakshmana are two different colors which I find very interesting. I am going to assume that the artist chose to make them different colors to emphasize the difference between mortality and divinity. Rama is described as an incredible man that people grow to rely heavily on in their life. He has an actual divine quality to him, “Rama displayed the tribulations and the limitations of the human frame and it was necessary from time to time to remind him of his divinity” (150). Lakshmana, while being very brave and loyal, is merely human. Although the two men are brothers, the division between them is obvious and in the artist’s eyes, should be very visible. This may be the only element of the poem that I agree with. The painting is much too simple to represent what it is supposed to depict. It is missing chaos. Nothing grabs my attentions very much. It is just disappointed to see this after reading such an eventful story like The Ramayana.