VARMA 2024.240

This oleograph is based on Ravi Varma’s 1901 painting Shakuntala’s Impending Calamity, with the central figure reimagined as Sita, wife of Rama and an incarnation of the goddess Lakshmi. While the landscape, pose and details remain unchanged, the change in identity reframes the narrative. The title Sita Vanwaas refers to the poignant episode in which Sita is exiled to the forest near Sage Valmiki’s ashram – not due to Rama’s personal doubt, but in response to public suspicion about her purity. Ravi Varma captures this moment of sorrow and dignity, placing Sita alone in a sunlit clearing. This re-identification of Shakuntala as Sita reflects the archetypal nature of Varma’s female figures. His heroines often embody eternal qualities – devotion, virtue, resilience and physical beauty – that transcend individual stories.