Girls Worshipping at a Shiva Shrine, Rama and Lakshmana on the Left (painting, recto), illustration from a Ramayana series

This painting depicts the blue-skinned Rama, the seventh avatar of Hindu god Vishnu, and his brother, Lakshmana, on their way to a temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. They pluck flowers in the garden, which has numerous flower beds. On the right, around the temple, is a group of girls who have come to pray at the temple. Some of them are engrossed in offering garlands and flowers to the lingam, the aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva, inside the temple. Those on the outside look at the two young men, admiring them from afar. This folio possibly belongs to a Ramayana manuscript produced in Sirohi. This manuscript is notable for its vibrant blue background, achieved through the use of the pigment Prussian blue. Other folios from the same manuscript in the Harvard Art Museums’ collections are 1973.164, 1973.165, 1973.166.A, 1973.166.B, 1973.167, 1973.168.A, 1973.168.B, 1973.169, 1973.170.A, 1973.170.B, 1973.171. Rajput, Rajasthani, Sirohi School.