Opaque Pigment on paper
Mewar, India
c. 1700 – 1710
Provenance:
Formerly in the collection of Paul F. Walter
Inscribed in Devanagari within a yellow panel in the upper border.
…103. Visvamitra kahein hein. Peli virochana ri putri rakhyasi huyi. Tya sagalan hein pija nithi. Jadi indra uni hein mari. Visanu pana kavyaru mata. Dusata stri hein marta hua.
[Damaged] … 103. Vishvamitra says, “Once Virochana’s Daughter (Manthara) became a Demoness and wreaked havoc on everything. Then Indra came and slayed her. (Damaged)… It is appropriate to kill an evil woman
This folio from the 1710 Ramayana series depictstwo ascetics conversing as Vishnu and Indra battle demons. The episode is taken from Valmiki’s Ramayana when Rama has experienced doubts about killing the demoness Tadaka. Vishvamitra then justifies killing an ‘evil’ woman by giving the example of Indra salying Manthara, another such demoness.
This folio was previously wrongly identified as being part of a Bhakti Ratnavali Series but the text clearly associates the page with the Ramayana series produced in Mewar at a similar period to the Bhakti Ratnavali Series .