The Dalits, formerly called "untouchables," are one of India’s largest indigenous Scheduled Classes (Anusuchit Jati) or communities not included in the traditional four-caste hierarchy. There are over 200 million Dalits in India today, concentrated in northern and eastern India. This is the first Dalit artwork to enter LACMA’s collection. It strengthens the museum’s holdings of non-elite contemporary Indian paintings by indigenous Mithila and Gond artists (for the Gond paintings, see M.2013.56.1 and .2).
Painted by the late Dalit woman artist Rampari Devi (1953-2011), Rahu Puja depicts the worship of Rahu, The Demon of Eclipses, who is believed to be a disembodied demonic head that causes eclipses by periodically devouring the Sun and the Moon. Rahu is a member of the nine Indian planetary deities (navagraha). His veneration traces back to the proto-Hindu or Vedic period in 1200-800 BCE, when Rahu was worshipped to invoke his blessings for courage. The rituals depicted in the painting include the deity’s possession of a priest or shaman (baghat), "who demonstrates his powers by performing various supernatural feats, such as: climbing a ladder comprised of sharp sword blades; withstanding the force of having grain pounded on a large mortar placed on his chest; holding thin bowls of blazing fire with his bare hands; and walking across a path of burning embers." (John H. Bowles and Andrew S. Arbury, eds. Raja Salhesh’s Garden: Contemporary Dalit Art & Ancient Myths of Mithila [Radford, VA: Radford University Art Museum and Radford University Foundation Press, 2022], p. CAT. 40, no. 37.1.)