Abduction of Sita by Ravana
The depiction of Ramayana on the Aralaguppe temple walls skips the events of the coronation of Rama and his exile. The panels, after the Tataka episode, narrate the abduction of Seeta.
Here is the background story in brief for the image on the wall art. After defeating Mareecha and Subahu, Sage Vishwamitra took Rama and Lakshmana to Mithila, where Janaka, the king of Mithila, held a contest. Janaka had in his custody a mighty bow that belonged to God Shiva. He proclaimed that anyone who could lift and string the bow would wed his daughter Sita. The divine bow was so heavy that hundreds of princes had failed even to move it. Rama entered the contest and not only lifted the bow with ease but even broke it. Impressed, Janaka offered the hand of Sita to Rama. With the blessings of Sage Vishwamitra and his parents, Rama wedded Sita in Mithila.
Soon, Dasharata decided to coronate Rama the King of Ayodhya. A series of deceits followed when Dasharata's youngest queen Kaikeyi became adamant that her son Bharata should be the king, not Rama. Poisoned by her aide Manthara, Kaikeyi exercised two boons Dasharata had given her. She demanded that Bharata be the king of Ayodhya and that Rama should be sent to live in a forest for fourteen years. Find a more detailed version of the story here.
Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana in Panchavati
When Rama left for his exile, Sita and Lakshmana followed him. The last few years of his exile, Rama spent in Panchavati, a beautiful forest on the bank of the river Godavari. Sage Agastya suggests that Rama settle in Panchavati. Quoting from the Valmiki Ramayana, this is how Agastya describes Panchavati - " Maithili (Sita) will take delight in the nearby River Godavari, and the abundant tubers, fruits, birds." The wall art below has captured the tranquillity of the place perfectly.
Image Description
The wooded area is shown beautifully with trees and animals. Rama (with his bow) and Sita are on the right side. In the middle is the river Godavari depicted by curvy lines and swimming fish.
Demoness Shurpanakha disfigured
If Kaikeyi exercising the boons from Dasharata was the first turning point in the epic of Ramayana, the second significant event was the incident with Shurpanakha.
While Rama, Lakshmana, and Sita spent their time in the tranquillity that Panchavati offered, a demoness named Shurpanakha passed by their hermitage. The demoness was an older woman and the sister of the ten-headed demon Ravana. She was mesmerized by the handsomeness of Rama when she chanced upon him. Her thoughts on Rama are expressed in the translation of Valmiki Ramayana as follows. "He whose face was radiant, arms lengthy, eyes large like lotus petals, stride like that of an elephant, wearing bunches of hair-tufts, delicate yet greatly vigorous, possessor of all kingly aspects, complexion deep-blue like a blue lotus, brilliant like the love-god Kama and the god of gods Indra, the demoness never having seen anyone like Rama became lovesick."
Shurpanakha confessed her love to Rama and insisted that he leave Sita and marry her. This confession amused Rama; in jest, he advised Shurpanakha to marry Lakshmana since he was single. Lakshmana bantered back, saying that if she married him, she would only be a slave to Sita, so she must marry Rama, his lord. Scholars and analysts of Ramayana say this jesting that happened here must have humiliated the demoness and enraged her.
After Lakshmana asks her to marry Rama, Shurpanakha flung herself at Sita, shouting that she was the cause of all the trouble and that if she were killed, Rama would be free to marry her. Alerted, Rama reprimanded Lakshmana that engaging at length with the vile and cruel would result in disasters and instructed Lakshmana to deface Shurpanakha and protect Sita. Lakshman, who was very protective of Sita, acted immediately to chop off Shurpanakha's ear and nose.
Image description
This wall relief has two stories from Ramayana. One on the right is the Shurpanakha incident where Lakshmana is mutilating the demoness. On the left is another episode where a demon named Kabandha. The wall reliefs in any Hoysala temples do not always follow the epics in a sequence. The significant incidents are carved but not necessarily in order.
Rama's battle with Khara and Dhushana
An angry, hurt, and insulted Shurpanakha rushed to her brothers Khara and Dushana, who dwelled nearby. She elaborated on the incident that resulted in her mutilation, and Khara summons fourteen thousand of his able demons and marched towards Rama's hermitage. However, Rama defeated Khara's army single-handedly, much to Shurpanakha's chagrin. This story is, however, not carved on the walls of Aralaguppe. Rama's battle with Khara is illustrated in this exhibit.
With Rama defeating and killing Khara, Shurpanakha approached her brother Ravana. Advised by his ministers, Ravana hatched a devious plan to abduct Sita instead of facing off Rama in a battle. Ravana's uncle Mareecha took the form of a golden deer and wandered around the hermitage. Sita, on spotting the beautiful golden deer, pressed Rama to get it for her. Though Rama suspected foul play, he set off to get the deer for Sita. However, he left Lakshmana to guard Sita.
The deer, who was demon Mareecha in disguise, drew Rama sufficiently away from the hermitage and, at that point, let out a cry in Rama's voice, calling Lakshmana for help. Sita is petrified that Rama was in trouble and insisted that Lakshmana should help his brother. When Lakshmana set out of the hermitage, Ravana approached Sita in the guise of a mendicant and begged her for alms. Sita, unsuspecting of the mendicant's intensions, walked out of the hermitage to give him alms. At that point, Ravana changed back to his original formidable form and with his flying chariot Pushpaka Vimana materialising in front of them, dragged Sita into the vehicle and started flying up and away.
This incident is very popular among artists, and in one of our exhibits, we have a story narrated in detail. Please click here to read.
Image description
Though this wall relief is worn out, on the left of the wall, we can see Ravana (the tall figure with long mattes of hair) as a mendicant and Sita handing him alms. Next to that, on the right, is a running deer and Rama with his bow drawn to hunt it.
Demigod Jatayu tries to rescue Sita from Ravana
Back in the hermitage, Rama is devastated to find Sita missing. There are several chapters in the original Ramayana that show the lamentations of Rama. Rama and Lakshmana then decide to scour the Dandaka forest to find Sita. As they keep moving through the dense forest, they see an eagle lying in a pool of blood. Though Rama draws his arrow, mistaking the bird for a demon, the bird turns out to be Jatayu, a half-bird-half-human, a demigod and a friend of Dasharata. Jatayu explained to Rama that he found Ravana making away with Sita in his flying chariot. The bird then furiously attacked the chariot damaging it and killing the charioteer. Once the chariot landed on earth, Jatayu fought with Ravana fiercely. However, owing to his old age, he soon lost his strength against the mighty Ravana. The demon took the opportunity to sever Jatayu's wings. Though he was almost about to die, Jatayu held on to his life, waiting for Rama to impart the news that it was Ravana who had abducted his wife. A chagrined Rama performs the last rites of the bird and proceeds with his journey through the forest.
Image Description
The wall relief is damaged, but the image of the bird is clear. This is the scene where Jatayu is fighting with Ravana. Though, Ravana's ten heads cannot be seen.
Encounter with the headless demon Kabandha
Rama and Lakshmana moved through the forest in the hope of finding Sita. Suddenly they encountered a massive gush of wind and observed that the animals and birds all around had gone into a frenzy. With that, a deformed demon named Kabandha appeared before them. A translation of the original captures the essence of that demon. "That diabolical demon was peaking like a huge mountain, his hair was horripilate and thickset, and his gleam was like a dark cloud, and his sound was like thunder."
That mountainous demon Kabandha had deformed legs and was headless (Kabandha means a torso less head.) He crawled on his stomach, and his mouth was in the abdominal region. However, he had hands that were a mile long, and the demon grabbed them both in each hand. Valmiki, the author of Ramayana, is known for his elaborate descriptions of people and places. Even here, the poet describes the demon in great detail.
As he brought Rama and Lakshmana near his mouth to devour them, the brothers drew their swords and cut off the demon's hands. The monster collapsed, releasing the brothers. He then narrated to Rama and Lakshmana that a sage had cursed him to become demonic, and God Indra had revealed to him that the curse would be lifted when Rama and Lakshmana cut off the hands. Kabandha then begged Rama to end his life. Thus when burned to ashes, a handsome divine man, a Gandharva, rose from the ashes. The Gandharva advised Rama to seek the help of the monkey Sugreeva to find Sita.
Ramayana has still maintained its allure among its readers not only for the main storyline but also because of the thrilling and nuanced sub-stories and shorter stories. Most often, every story gives a crucial turn to the main storyline.
Image description
On the left of the wall relief, the headless demon Kabandha is flanked by Rama and Lakshmana, who severing his arms.
The second image is an old painting that shows the extent of the deformity of Kabandha.
