Shriram Viwaha

Perhaps the most popular academic painter of India after Raja Ravi Varma, M. V. Dhurandhar was also prolific in his output. Besides oil paintings, he created oleographs too, and for a while, created works for Varma’s printing press in Bombay. It’s the mythological scenes such as this one—detailing the wedding of Lord Rama—that rendered oleographs by Varma, Dhurandhar and a few other artists of the time so popular. It helped people visualise their gods, and partake in their lives, giving a vicarious sense of belonging to the universe of their protectors.