Madalasa & Rutudwaja
Ravi Varma Press1890
Raja Ravi Varma Heritage Foundation
Bengaluru, India
There are different versions to the Madalasa-Rutudwaja tale but all of them agree on thing that King Rutudwaja was noble and generous while the beautiful Madalasa preached renunciation to her four sons. Though the versions vary as to the nature of their marriage -- in one it's believed that Rutudwaja killed the demon Patalaketu and rescued Madalasa and sought her hand in marriage (as depicted in this reproduction), there is another version which goes by that Patalaketu abducts Madalasa, which in turn leads Rutudwaja to set out in rescue on the special horse given to him by sage Galava who has been tormented by the demon.
- Title: Madalasa & Rutudwaja
- 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
- Medium: Print
- Art Genre: Print
- Labels and Inscriptions: Ravi Varma Press, Karla, Lonavala
- Creator's Lifetime: 1848-04-29/1906-10-02
- Collection: Raja Ravi Varma Heritage Foundation, Bengaluru
- 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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