Untitled (Rama Durbar)

The Rama Durbar is a pan-Indian iconography that is said to depict the auspicious gathering of four Hindu deities: Rama, Sita, Lakshmana and Hanuman. It has been historically mass-produced in prints and drawings and has been referenced later by more recognised modern painters as well. This rendition of the Rama Durbar is from the Bengal region of India where Rama is recognised more as a fair ruler than a divine figure and this pat—traditional artworks from eastern India known for their intricate details and depictions of myths and legends—echoes that sentiment. The human figures are dressed in the garb of the royal court (Sita’s saree is in accordance with the norms of the Brahmo Samaj—a monotheistic Hindu reformist sect founded in Calcutta, in 1828, that rejected prevalent Hindu practices and instead focused on prayers, meditation, reading of scriptures and the worship of an Eternal god without an idol), while Hanuman, whose depictions are typically anthropomorphic, is painted in his monkey form. Instead of being hand-drawn, the painting also makes use of a stamped outline which the artist has filled in with colour.