Indrajit Makes Offerings: Folio from the Siege of Lanka series
Attributed to Manaku Indian
Not on view
Here, Ravana’s son Indrajit, seated before a fire altar, makes an offering to the gods to secure the power to become invisible and fight his enemies from the air. Demons approach the temple bringing offerings for Indrajit’s sacrifice; at their feet lies a decapitated goat, which will be offered to the god Agni. Note how the artist abandoned his initial plan to depict the scene on a rocky outcrop in favor of a new setting within the city walls of Ravana’s palace in Lanka. Preparatory drawings like this one give insight into the artist Manaku’s creative process as he refined his ideas before laying down color to create a formal finished work.
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