Ramayana - Kerala Mural Archive

Detail Photos

Deity: Sreeraman Location: Mattancherry Palace Theme: Ramayana Visual Feature: Background pattern Visual Feature: Facial expression detail Visual Feature: Hand gesture (mudra)Visual Feature: Ornamentation

This is a unique combination of the stories from the Yuddha Kanda and Sundara Kanda mixed together. It begins with Rama gifting his ring to Hanuman to carry with him to Lanka. The ring is meant as a symbol or a signal that shows that Hanuman is indeed one of Rama's men. As they go out in search of Sita, they are unable to find her, but on the way meets Sampathi, Jatayu's brother. Sampathi, when he learns of Jatayu's death, grieves over him and instructs the Vanaras to go visit Lanka, where they will find Sita under a Simshapa tree. Hanuman, learning of his own strength, realizes that he will be able to jump across the ocean and reach Lanka. So he begins his leap from the top of Mahendragiri mountain. In the middle of his leap, he takes a rest on top of the Mainaka mountain, which appears from the sea. Mainaka mountain is known for its ability to fly; hence it has wings and a face as well. While crossing the ocean, Hanuman encounters different asuras or demons. First is Surasa. Surasa devours Hanuman, but he manages to escape through her ear. Next he meets with the demoness Simhika. He pierces through Simhika's stomach and escapes and kills the demoness in the process. Then he meets with Lanka Lakshmi, the guardian of Lanka, and defeats her as well. Then he waits on top of the Simshapa tree where Sita rests. Ravana appears at the moment, trying to plead with Sita to stay with him. Sita's hands are raised in Vyakhyana mudra. She might be explaining to him that she is married to Rama and will not be able to be with Ravana. The next horizontal band shows Rama lying on a bed made of darbha grass near the ocean. He is praying to Varuna to let him cross the ocean. Varuna does not make an appearance even after several days of Rama's penance. So Rama gets angry and aims his arrow at the ocean. Varuna appears in front of Rama and apologizes for his delay in making an appearance. He allows them to build a bridge across the ocean. So the Vanaras, along with Hanuman, build a bridge of rocks across the ocean, connecting the mainland to Lanka. In the next scene, Rama is shown inspecting an arrow. He is getting ready for the battle between himself and Ravana. Sugriva, meanwhile, goes on to fight with Ravana. He stomps on Ravana's chest and steals his crown. He presents the crown before Rama. The next scene shows Ravana trying to wake up Kumbhakarna in order to get him ready for the battle. For that, he uses an elephant and several musical instruments. Kumbhakarna is in deep sleep, and they finally manage to wake him up. The last horizontal band at the very bottom shows the actual war scene. Rama is seen fighting with Kumbhakarna. Kumbhakarna gets defeated. Lakshmana fights with Indrajit, son of Ravana. Indrajit appears above a golden chariot while Lakshmana sits above Hanuman's shoulders. There is a fierce exchange of arrows between the two. In the end, Indrajit is defeated. Then the Rama-Ravana fight begins. Rama defeats Ravana by piercing his arrows through each of Ravana's ten heads, and in the end killing him. After Ravana is defeated, Rama asks Sita to do an ordeal by fire to prove her chastity. Sita agrees and sits on top of the yajna kunda, or sacrificial fire. The god Agni protects her, and she appears unscathed. The scene is witnessed by Vanaras, Narada, Sugriva, Hanuman, Kumbhakarna, Lakshmana, and Rama.

Iconography

Primary Deity/Figure: Sreeraman
Secondary Figures: Agni, Hanuman, Indrajit, Kimbakarna, Lakshmanan, Narada, Ravanan, Sampathi, Sugrivan, Varuna, Vibhishanan
Iconographic Form: Sreeraman (Vishnu's reincarnation)
Iconographic Attributes: Longest panel in the Ramayana gallery room; Scenes from Sundarakanda and Yuddhakanda depicted; the story progresses horizontally from left to right in three different horizontal bands; The beginning, the upper left corner; green-skinned Rama giving a ring to white-skinned Hanuman with red face. Hanuman resembles a monkey. Rama is accompanied by Lakshmana, golden-skinned Lakshmana holding an arrow in his hand, and golden-colored Sugriva looking in on the scene, holding up his hand in vyakhyana mudra; Next scene consists of the Vanaras or monkeys meeting with Sampathi. Sampathi is green-skinned, with bulging eyes and a red beak, with features similar to Jatayu; has wings; Next scene consists of white-skinned Hanuman sitting on top of Mount Mahendragiri, about to take a leap across the ocean; Next scene is of Hanuman sitting or resting on top of the winged Menaka mountain that emerges from the sea. The mountain has a golden-skinned face; Next scene depicts Hanuman meeting with the huge Surasa demon; Next scene shows Hanuman escaping through her ear; Hanuman escapes from the abdomen of rakshasi Simhika and enters Lanka; defeats green-skinned Lanka Lakshmi; There he sees golden-skinned Sita sitting under a Shimshapa tree. Hanuman rests on top of this tree and witnesses the scene of ten-armed, ten-headed Ravana trying to plead with Sita; Sita is sitting under the tree with her hands raised in vyakhyana mudra; Green-skinned Ravana has bulging eyes, fangs, and five visible faces; Out of his ten arms, two are raised up in anjali mudra over his head. Four of his arms are also in anjali mudra, raised near his chest; He is wearing a red-colored upper garment. In the next horizontal band, Rama is seen lying on top of a bed made of darbha grass, which is arranged on top of a tiger skin; He appears to be praying to God Varuna; holding his hands together in Anjali mudra; golden-skinned Lakshmana, golden-skinned Sugriva and white-skinned Hanuman is seen looking at Rama; Vibhishana stands nearby, holding his hands together in Anjali mudra; There is also another demon behind Vibhishana looking in on the scene; Rama appears to be praying to God Varuna to let him pass through the ocean; In the next scene, Rama is seen stringing an arrow through the bow, aiming it at the ocean; green-skinned and wears a red upper garment; Varuna appears at the instance, white-skinned, hands raised up in Anjali mudra; In the next scene, several vanaras are seen carrying rocks across the ocean, building a bridge; A four-armed Hanuman is prominent among them; In the next scene, Rama is seen inspecting an arrow, holding it in both his hands; He is green-skinned with red upper garment; Sugriva and Hanuman and Vibhishana overlooks the scene; Sugriva offers the ten crowns of Ravana to Rama. In the next scene, Sugriva is seen fighting with Ravana; Sugriva raises his legs and puts it on Ravana's chest; One hand is raised up in the air and the other hand is holding on to Ravana's crown. Five of the crowns are visible, other five must be at the back. Sugriva is in Anjali mudra, looking at Rama; Ravana is green-skinned, with ten arms and ten heads, five of which is visible. In his five hands, he holds different weapons, including a mace, an arrow, a spear, and a crescent moon; The next scene shows Ravana and some of his attendants trying to wake up Kumbhakarna with the help of a white elephant. Kumbhakarna is huge, green-skinned, wearing a red upper jacket and has eyes closed, but mouth is slightly open, with fangs visible through it. The lowermost section shows the war scene of Ramayana; Green-skinned Rama with a bow and arrow in his hand is shooting at Kumbhakarna; Kumbhakarna has his hand raised; holding a spear in his hand; The next scene shows Kumbhakarna defeated, with multiple arrows injuring his body; The next scene shows yellow-skinned Lakshmana with green upper garment fighting with Indrajit, son of Ravana; Indrajit is also green-skinned, having a bow and arrow in his hand; Indrajit is seen on top of a chariot; There are flames at the tip of arrows; It appears to be a fierce battle; There are multiple arrows flying across either side; Hanuman carries Lakshmana on his shoulder; There are several asuras overlooking the scene, who are also injured by Lakshmana's arrows; Indrajit succumbs to Lakshmana's arrows and lies dead; The next scene depicts Rama and Ravana fighting with each other, as Kumbhakarna looks on, as Vibhishana looks on. Multiple arrows are shot on either side. There are several bows in multiple of Ravana's hands; He holds his famous sword Chandrahasa and several weapons in his other hands. His five heads are visible in the image; He also has bulging eyes, red upper jacket, and fangs; The next scene shows Ravana getting defeated by Rama, his arrows piercing each of his heads; The final scene depicts golden-skinned Sita sitting atop a Yajna kunda, or fire altar; holding a lotus flower in one hand, and her other hand is raised; the ordeal by fire; Rama stands beside her; He is green-skinned with a red upper jacket holding a bow and arrow in his hand; Above Sita is god Agni, also yellow-skinned, with four arms; There are Sugriva, Hanuman, Vibhishana, Lakshmana, and other vanaras, and sage Narada, white-skinned with a veena, witnessing the scene of Sita's trial by fire.
Rasa: Shanta

Spatial & Architectural

Temple: Palace interior
Zone within Temple: Ramayana Chamber
Position in Pradakshina Sequence: Not Applicable
Adjacent Panels: Ramayanam and Ramayanam

Narrative

Textual Source: Ramayana
Mythological Tale: This is the longest panel in the Ramayana gallery room. It depicts scenes from Sundara Kanda and Yuddha Kanda. It is divided into three sections, three horizontal bands depicting different sections of the tale. The first uppermost band is mostly depicting the story of Hanuman visiting Lanka and witnessing the exchange between Sita and Ravana. The panel begins with Rama giving a ring to Hanuman. This ring is meant to be a signal for Sita to show that Hanuman is indeed Rama's follower. Sugriva and Lakshmana stands to the right of Rama. The next scene shows Sampathi, who looks similar to Jatayu (because he is Jatayu's brother), talking to the vanaras who were travelling along with Hanuman in search of Sita. He tells them that Sita is in Lanka, sitting under a Shimshapa tree. Next scene shows Hanuman leaping from the Mahendragiri mountain. Next scene shows Hanuman sitting on top of the Mainaka mountain, which appeared out of the ocean. The mountain has its iconic wings and face. The next panel shows Ravana getting devoured by the demoness Surasa, but he escapes through the ear of the asura. The next scene shows Hanuman escaping from the abdomen of demoness Simhika. The next scene shows Hanuman defeating Lanka Lakshmi. Then Hanuman witnesses Sita sitting under the Shimshapa tree. Then he sits atop the Shimshapa tree, and witnesses Ravana trying to convince Sita to stay with him. Ravana has five visible heads and ten arms. He has three pairs of his arms in Anjali mudra, trying to convince Sita. The next horizontal band begins with Rama lying on a grass bed, or bed made up of Darbha grass, scattered across a tiger skin. He holds his hand together in Anjali mudra, praying to God Varuna for help in building a bridge across the ocean. When Varuna does not make an appearance, Rama gets angry and begins stringing his bow and arrow. At that time white-skinned Varuna appears seeking forgiveness for his delay in making an appearance. He folds his hands together in Anjali mudra, showing his regret. A set of monkeys along with Hanuman are seen carrying stones across the ocean to build a bridge. Then Rama is seen inspecting an arrow with both his hands, while Sugriva, Vibhishana and Hanuman stands looking at him. Sugriva attacks Ravana and tries to grab his crown. He obtains the crown and places it before Rama. The next scene shows Ravana trying to wake up Kumbhakarna with the help of an elephant. The next band begins with the Ramayana Yuddha Kanda. Rama is seen fighting with Kumbhakarna. Several arrows are released by Rama, and it pierces Kumbhakarna, leading to his death. The next scene Indrajit on top of a chariot, golden chariot, and Lakshmana on top of Hanuman is seen fighting with each other. There are a series of arrows flying back and forth. Indrajit is seen defeated. The next scene shows the epic battle between Ravana and Rama. The magnificent form of Ravana is visible with five arms, with ten arms and five heads. Rama aims his arrows at each of the heads and ultimately defeats Ravana. The final sequence shows Sita sitting on top of a yajna kunda, a sacrificial fire, and Lord Agni appears above her. She is unaffected by the fire, surrounding her are Rama, to the right Vibhishana, Lakshmana, to the left Narada on the extreme right, Hanuman, Sugriva are also visible in this panel.
Episode: Sundara Kanda, Yudha Kanda
Position within Narrative Sequence: 6 out of 10

Condition & Documentation

Condition: Good
Deterioration Type: Pigment loss
Restoration Status: Partially restored
Documentation Type: DSLR full panel
Permission Basis: ASI permission
Date of Documentation: 01/08/2024
Artist: Unknown
Identifier: MCP_P034
Rights / Notes: These images may not be reproduced, redistributed, or used for commercial purposes without prior permission.