Damayanti Vanvas
Ravi Varma Press1890
Raja Ravi Varma Heritage Foundation
Bengaluru, India
From the poignant, love-lorn story of Nala and Damayanti, Ravi Varma weaves a sudden end turning it into a tragedy of gigantic proportions. The Damayanti series, where she grows up pining for Nala, whose virtues are described in detail by the messenger swans and vice-versa where Nala aches for Damayanti, whose ethereal beauty is explained to him by the same swans, comes to a shocking end here. Exiled to the forest by Nala's brother Pushkara, the couple undergo a series of suffering, lose each other as Nala goes away leaving Damayanti alone hoping that at least her misery would end. Depressed and lost in her thoughts of Nala, Damayanti fails to see the impending danger of the python nearby.
- Title: Damayanti Vanvas
- Creator: Ravi Varma Press
- Date Created: 1890
- Physical Dimensions: 35 x 50 cm
- Type: Reproduction
- Original Source: From the Sandeep & Gitanjali Maini Foundation
- Rights: Raja Ravi Varma Heritage Foundation, Bengaluru
- Art Form: Print
- Labels and Inscriptions: Ravi Varma Press, Karla, Lonavala
- Creator's Lifetime: 1848-04-29/1906-10-02
- About the Artist: Raja Ravi Varma (1848-1906), India’s foremost artist, who took art to the masses, hailed from Kilimanoor, in the erstwhile state of Travancore. From a very young age, Ravi Varma, was drawn towards art, imbibing techniques from his uncle and mentor Raja Raja Varma and his mother, Umayamba Bayi, a poet in her own right. Varma was much sought after by the Royals and owing to his popularity and reputation, his spectacular and richly-textured works were prolific. His realistic portrayals of contemporary figures and interpretations of religious and mythological figures fetched him instant and enduring success, lifting his standing in the art world. If the Royals and his countrymen were in awe of this great talent, the international world was spellbound by his imagination and creativity. He ensured that art would be accessible to all, through reproductions of his paintings which were made available, and affordable to everyone.
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