Ramayana

Verses from Tulsidas's Ramcharitmanas are set in lines beneath a sequence of narrative panels, read left to right in successive bands. The sequence opens with a veena-playing figure and an elephant-headed figure; identifiable moments that follow include forest dwellings, a boat crossing a river, a large red demonic face, a ten-headed king in a horse-drawn chariot and a battle scene.

The Ramayana is among the most retold stories in South Asia, and the Ramcharitmanas gave it a voice that households have recited for centuries. Pairing verse with picture follows the long Indian habit of telling epics through image and recitation together.

A repeated Ram Ram border in red and orange, with a swastika at each corner, encloses the panels like a continuous chant around the story. Within, dozens of small figures, each in a distinct colour and posture, keep the sequence legible and lively from across a room or up close.