AN ILLUSTRATION FROM A BHAGAVATA PURANA SERIES: PARASHURAMA IN COMBAT WITH KARTAVIRYA ARJUNA
Bikaner, Rajasthan, North-Western India, circa 1780 - 1820

Opaque pigments heightened with gold on paper, the vertical composition depicting Parashurama, the sixth avatara of Vishnu, in combat with the evil multi-armed king Kartavirya, trying to avenge his father's death, the rishi Jamadagni, whose decapitated corpse is lying lifeless at the top of the composition, the cow in the background symbolising Kamadhenu, the Cow of Plenty, escaping the evil king, the foreground dedicated to the intense battle to the death between Parashurama and Kartavirya, the latter loosing his multiple arms to the hero's axe, his coachman and steeds already dead on the ground suggesting the battle is drawing to an end and with it the evil king's life, the composition pasted onto later gold-decorated green borders, 25cm x 18.2cm.