Rama is the seventh avatar (incarnation) of Vishnu, the Hindu god of preservation. He epitomizes righteousness and caste duty (dharma). He is the protagonist of the epic Ramayana (Adventures of Rama), which dates from the 4th century BCE to the 2nd century CE and is traditionally ascribed to the celebrated poet-sage Valmiki. It recounts the story of Prince Rama, who was unjustly exiled with his wife, Sita, and brother, Lakshmana, for fourteen years. During his exile, the demon king Ravana kidnaps Sita. Rama eventually vanquishes Ravana, rescues Sita, and returns to rule his kingdom of Kosala in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.
This exuberant portrayal of Rama on a spectacular rearing dappled horse is from a series of Rama’s triumphal journey back to Ayodhya. Another folio from this series depicting Rama and Lakshmana on a white elephant is in the San Diego Museum of Art (1990.703). Here, the blue-skinned Rama has a golden nimbus and wears a tripartite crown with pink lotuses. He carries a bow and an arrow with a crescent arrowhead. He wears a saffron colored lower garment and has a sword and quiver suspended from his waist sash. Behind Rama are his three siblings: Lakshmana, holding an honorific parasol; Bharata, Rama’s half-brother holding a fly whisk made with the white tail hairs of a yak (cauri or chowri), symbolic of royalty; and Shatrughna, the twin brother of Lakshmana also holding a chowri. In front of Rama, the monkey-general Hanuman is holding a sunshade (kiraniya).
