The assembly of Rama (Uttara Rama Charitra)

The enthronement of Rama at the court of Ayodhya following his fourteen years in exile was a highly popular subject revisited by a number of publishing presses. Rama—of dark blue complexion and wearing his characteristic waistcloth and shawl in yellow, the color of asceticism—is accompanied by his wife, Sita, and is attended by his three brothers, his loyal general (the monkey Hanuman), and the family priest (the sage Vashistha, one of the revered authors of the Rigveda). Before them are Rama’s sandals (chappals), traditionally worshipped as the embodiment of Vishnu (Vishnupada). Like many of the chromolithographic prints produced under Ravi Varma’s direction, this composition is modeled after one of the artist’s paintings.