A King Performing a Ritual (painting, recto; painting, verso), illustration from a Ramayana series

The folio depicts the ritual of the “Puttatresti Yajna,” a sacrifice mentioned in the ancient Indian text of the Atharva-Veda, performed to obtain a son. In the Indian Epic Ramayana, this ritual was performed by the Sage Vasishtha and Sage Rishyasringa for King Dasharatha of Ayodhya. According to the text, on the completion of this ritual, a divine being emerged from the sacrificial fire carrying a vessel of gold, with a silver cover, filled with sacred food in his hands. This sacred food, after being eaten by the wives of the king, blessed them with children. 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.