Rama, Sita and Lakshmana at Panchavadi hermitage

The Panchavadi hermitage, Indian miniature painting based on the Ramayana, the great Indian epic, Pahari School, Chamba, Kangra.

This eighteenth century Pahari painting from Chamba in India executed in the Kangra style depicts Rama’s life with Sita and Lakshmana in the tranquil grove of Panchavadi. While they were traveling from sage Agastya’s hermitage to Panchavadi they saw a huge bird that they suspected to be a demon. When questioned the bird told them that he was Jatayu, the son of Aruna and a friend of the late king Dasaratha. He offered to keep watch over Sita when Rama and Lakshmana were away.

On reaching Panchavadi, they selected a site full of trees, near a water pool, with the river Godavari flowing nearby. Lakshmana built a spacious hut with bamboos and mud and they settle down to a life of peace and serenity.

This painting is an excellent example of the art of miniature painting that flourished in the Chamba region during the period from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century.