Rama, Lakshmana, Bharata and Shatrughna in the arms of their mothers, while their father Dasharatha converses with priests (painting, recto; painting, verso), illustration from a Ramayana series

The painting depicts the joyous moment of the birth of King Dasharatha’s three wives’ sons – Kaushalya’s Rama, Kaikeyi’s Bharata, Sumitra’s Lakshmana and Shatrughna. The dark-skinned Rama is seen with his mother Kaushalya on the far left, while the dark-skinned Bharata, and the light-skinned Lakshmana and Shatrughna are on the far left. In the lower register, king Dasharatha of Ayodhya sits opposite the group of sages and priests who performed the ritual which helped him obtain sons. According to the text of the Indian Epic Ramayana, he donated cows to the priests as a token of his gratitude. On the reverse of this painting, is another depiction of the new mothers with their sons. This double-sided folio possibly belongs to a Ramayana manuscript produced in Sirohi. 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.B, 1973.169, 1973.170.A, 1973.170.B, 1973.171. Rajput, Rajasthani, Sirohi School.