Rama is trying to catch a beautiful deer for Sita as he follows it through a dense forest. This is a double layered three dimensional relief carving.
The background visible through the carved area has additionally been expertly carved. The deer, Rama's face, headdress and costume, trees, leaves are finely detailed. Even the sides have carefully rendered tree branches, leaves and foliage continuing to the back edge.
Kakawin Ramayana is an old Javanese rendering of the Sanskrit Ramayana in kakawin meter. It is believed to have been written in Central Java (modern Indonesia) in approximately 870 AD during the era of Medang Kingdom. Kakawin Rāmâyaṇa is a so-called kakawin, the Javanese form of kāvya, a poem modeled on traditional Sanskrit meters. The part of the story depicted in this carving is when Sita saw a beautiful deer in the forest and asked Rama to catch it for her. It was then that Ravana seized the moment to abduct Sita and take her to Lanka. We highly recommend that you check out Nina Paley's 2008 animated film Sita sings the Blues, which intersperses events from the Ramayana. A trio of Indian shadow puppets carry on a lighthearted but knowledgeable discussion throughout the film.
More from Wikipedia: In some adaptations of the Hindu epic Ramayana, Maya Sita (Sanskrit: माया सीता, "illusional Sita") or Chaya Sita (छाया सीता, "shadow Sita") is the illusionary duplicate of the goddess Sita (the heroine of the texts), who is abducted by the demon-king Ravana of Lankainstead of the real Sita. In the Ramayana, Sita – the consort of Rama (the prince of Ayodhya and an avatar of the god Vishnu) – is seized by Ravana and imprisoned in Lanka, until she is rescued by Rama, who slays her captor. Sita undergoes Agni Pariksha (an ordeal of fire) by which she proves her chastity before she is accepted by Rama. In some versions of the epic, the fire-god Agni creates Maya Sita, who takes Sita's place and is abducted by Ravana and suffers his captivity, while the real Sita hides in the fire. At Agni Pariksha, Maya Sita and the real Sita exchange places again. While some texts mention that Maya Sita is destroyed in the flames of Agni Pariksha, others narrate how she is blessed and reborn as the epic heroine Draupadi or the goddess Padmavati. Some scriptures also mention her previous birth being Vedavati, a woman Ravana tries to molest.
The Maya Sita motif saves Sita – the chief goddess of Rama-centric sects – from falling prey to Ravana's plot of abduction and safeguards her purity. Similar doubles or surrogates of Sita and other goddesses are found in various tales of Hindu mythology.
Details:
Age: unknown (20th cent)
Size: 12" x 12" and 2.25" thick (approx)~inverted heart shaped
Material: Teak
Condition: Excellent
