Gouache painting on paper, part of an album of seventy paintings of Indian deities. Shri Ranganathasvami reclines on the fivehooded serpent Shesha (also known as Ananta), enshrined at the heart of the temple town of Srirangam. Above the reclining figure is Vibhishana, strewing flowers over his lord. In the foreground are processional images of Alagiyamanavala flanked by his consorts. In his upper right hand he carries the chakra (discus) and in his upper left the shankha (conch); his lower right hand is in abhaya mudra and his lower left rests on the gada (mace). The goddesses, seated in European fashion with feet down, all carry a lotus flower. The dome of the sanctuary is embellished by an image of Paravasudeva on its front gable, and four kalashas at its summit. To the right and left of the building stand two four-armed dvarapalas dressed in long coats and shawls. In their hands are the same attributes carried by Alagiyamanavala, except that one of their lower hands is in tarjani mudra. On the right of the page, behind the main shrine, are the Kṛṣṇa shrine with an image of Kṛṣṇa quelling Kalinga and the Chandra Pushkarini tank with the sacred tree, and on the left of the page is the Ranganayaki shrine.

Company School
Trichinopoly Style
1830 (circa)
Tiruchirapalli

© Trustees of the British Museum