Ram, Laxman, Bharat and Shatrughan; are called in this order cuz of their importance in the story. Ram, the hero, Laxman, his companion, Bharat, who chased his brothers and begged them to return and Shatrughan who literally had 0.0001 seconds in the whole story.
But most people think this is also the order of their ages. Eldest Ram, then Laxman, then Bharat and the youngest Shatrughan. BUT THAT IS SO NOT TRUE!
Their order:
First queen, Kaushalyagave birth to eldest Ram.
Second queen, Kaikeyigave birth to second Bharat.
Third queen, Sumitra gave birth to the twins Laxman and Shatrughan, the youngest brothers.
But Laxman was closer to Ram while Shatrughan was closer to Bharat.
In scriptures it’s said, the twins were actually “devotees” of their favorite elder brother. They worshipped them.
Shantha was the daughter of Dashrath and Kausalya and elder sister of Ram. She was adopted by king Romapada of Anga, and married sage Rishyashringa.
Rishyashringa grew up isolated from society. However, he was needed to perform a yagna to bring forth rains during monsoon. Fearing Rishyashringa’s wrath, Shantha was sent to him along with a few other women. When she met him, Rishyashringa agreed to perform the yagna. He later married Shantha.
For part 3 of the desi remix series I chose to illustrate“Visha Kanyas” (poisonous damsels). These young women were used as assassins against kings and other powerful enemies. They were often sent by kings to kill their enemies by seduction and giving their targets poisoned alcohol. It was believed that their blood was extremely poisonous to humans, and that even a single look or touch could kill a person.
“Visha Kanyas” is a remix of “Hylas and the Nymphs” by John Williams Waterhouse, in which Hylas (the companion of Greek God Hercules) is abducted by water nymphs.
Part of my goal is to easternize western paintings, but my main goal with these remixes isn’t necessarily to highlight religion or to make religious iconography. I see a lot of young desi women trying to rebel against traditional images of how desis have been depicted in the past and how they should look in order to create a new image of what modern desi women look and feel like today. I definitely support this notion, however instead of using my paintings to create a single snapshot of what the modern desi looks like, or instead of rebelling against my culture in any way, I’d rather create a scene that shows women taking action. I don’t want to make portraits to suggest that how I paint someone is what I believe beauty should look like because then the conversation becomes just about what we look like on the outside. I make paintings rooted in mythology because it tells a story of women doing things their way and being powerful. So much of history in Indian mythology is about men fighting epic battles, but you don’t hear enough about HERstory. I want to show examples from our past to prove that not all traditionally depicted women are weak, shy, or whatever other stereotypes give us negative sentiments about who we are as Indian women today. The point is that there are stories to be told that show action, not just questions about beauty captured in a single way. Whether this power comes through women defeating men by trickery, using seduction to get what they want, or going as far as killing men, these stories all show women having the upper hand, which if you ask me, defies stereotypes just as much as being a “rebel” or changing up our looks.
