{
"data": {
"id": 314241,
"accession_number": "2018.107",
"share_license_status": "CC0",
"tombstone": "Shurpanakha demands vengeance, from the \"Shangri\" Ramayana, c. 1700. Northern India, Pahari kingdoms. Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper; painting: 18.4 x 28.9 cm (7 1/4 x 11 3/8 in.); page: 21.6 x 31.8 cm (8 1/2 x 12 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund, 2018.107",
"current_location": null,
"title": "Shurpanakha demands vengeance, from the \"Shangri\" Ramayana",
"creation_date": "c. 1700",
"creation_date_earliest": 1680,
"creation_date_latest": 1750,
"artists_tags": [],
"culture": [
"Northern India, Pahari kingdoms"
],
"technique": "Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper",
"support_materials": [],
"department": "Indian and Southeast Asian Art",
"collection": "Indian Art",
"type": "Painting",
"measurements": "Painting: 18.4 x 28.9 cm (7 1/4 x 11 3/8 in.); Page: 21.6 x 31.8 cm (8 1/2 x 12 1/2 in.)",
"dimensions": {
"painting": {
"height": 0.184,
"height_inch": 7,
"height_inch_fraction": 0.25,
"width": 0.289,
"width_inch": 11,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.375
},
"overall": {
"height": 0.216,
"height_inch": 8,
"height_inch_fraction": 0.5,
"width": 0.318,
"width_inch": 12,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.5
},
"page": {
"height": 0.216,
"height_inch": 8,
"height_inch_fraction": 0.5,
"width": 0.318,
"width_inch": 12,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.5
}
},
"state_of_the_work": null,
"edition_of_the_work": null,
"copyright": null,
"inscriptions": [
{
"inscription": "[[verso, lower right corner, in Sanskrit, upside down]] aranya 31",
"inscription_translation": "[Book of] the Forest, [Chapter] 31",
"inscription_remark": "This episode occurs in Aranya Kanda Sarga 31.",
"sortorder": null
},
{
"inscription": "[[recto, in the borders, indistinct Takri script]] Shurpanakh\u0101 (?)--- lank\u0101 \u0101y\u012b ---- r\u0101va\u1e47e prati jh\u016bth bachan bold\u012b hoyi je tan raje bich matra (?) hoy\u012b hai. Sri r\u0101m chandre khar d\u016bsana s\u0101ra m\u0101re mera dheya(?) hoy\u0101. Sri r\u0101m chandre de sath isd\u012b ek istri ----",
"inscription_translation": "Shurpanakha(?) arrived at Lanka, and began lying to Ravana. [She said that] Rama had murdered [the demons] Khara and Dhushana, and (unintelligible). [She mentioned that] Rama had a woman with him who (unintelligible).",
"inscription_remark": null,
"sortorder": null
},
{
"inscription": "[[verso, top, in Takri script]] 71",
"inscription_translation": null,
"inscription_remark": null,
"sortorder": null
},
{
"inscription": "[[verso, left side, in Takri script]] 71",
"inscription_translation": null,
"inscription_remark": null,
"sortorder": null
}
],
"exhibitions": {
"current": [
{
"id": 315752,
"title": "Indian Gallery 242 Rotation",
"description": "Indian Gallery 242 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (September 10, 2018-April 7, 2019).",
"opening_date": "2018-09-10T04:00:00"
},
{
"id": 457592,
"title": "Imagining Rama\u2019s Journey",
"description": "Imagining Rama\u2019s Journey. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 10-September 17, 2023).",
"opening_date": "2023-03-09T05:00:00"
},
{
"id": 690400,
"title": "Epic of the Northwest Himalayas: Pahari Paintings from the \u201c\u2018Shangri\u2019 Ramayana\u201d",
"description": "Epic of the Northwest Himalayas: Pahari Paintings from the \u201c\u2018Shangri\u2019 Ramayana\u201d. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 19-August 16, 2026).",
"opening_date": "2026-04-19T04:00:00"
}
],
"legacy": [
{
"description": "The Rama Epic: Hero, Heroine, Ally, Foe. Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA (organizer) (October 21, 2016-January 15, 2017).",
"opening_date": "2016-10-21T00:00:00"
},
{
"description": "Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 20-May 29, 2011); Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY (June 24-October 2, 2011).",
"opening_date": "2011-02-20T00:00:00"
}
]
},
"provenance": [
{
"description": "Unknown",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": "?\u20131956",
"sortorder": 1
},
{
"description": "(Walter LeRoy Randel Jr. [b. 1932], New York, NY, sold to Ralph Benkaim)",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": "1956\u2013July 1969",
"sortorder": 3
},
{
"description": "Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection, Los Angeles, CA",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": "July 1969\u20132018",
"sortorder": 4
},
{
"description": "The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH",
"citations": [],
"footnotes": null,
"date": "2018\u2013",
"sortorder": 5
}
],
"find_spot": null,
"related_works": [
{
"id": 162328,
"description": "Rishyashringa addresses the courtesans, from the \"Shangri\" Ramayana, c. 1700\u20131725. Northern India, Pahari kingdoms, Himachal Pradesh. Gum tempera and ink on paper; page: 20 x 30.4 cm (7 7/8 x 11 15/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Norman O. Stone and Ella A. Stone Memorial Fund, 2002.6",
"relationship": null
},
{
"id": 159647,
"description": "King Dasharatha confers with Kaikeyi, from the \u201cShangri\u201d Ramayana, c. 1700\u20131725. Northern India, Pahari kingdoms, Himachal Pradesh. Gum tempera and ink on paper; page: 22.5 x 32.7 cm (8 7/8 x 12 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Norman Zaworski in honor of Sherman and Ruth Lee, 1996.361",
"relationship": null
}
],
"former_accession_numbers": [],
"did_you_know": "The Ramayana of Valmiki describes Shurpanakha as hideous, misshapen, and potbellied with hair the color of copper.",
"early_education_description": null,
"artlens_description": null,
"description": "In a dramatic climax, the artists introduce the demon king, Ravana (the Howler), archvillain of the Ramayana. He has 10 crowned heads and 20 arms. He grasps a different deadly weapon in each hand; they reveal his supreme powers. The demon Shurpanakha\u2019s nose and ears are healing, but her desire for revenge is stronger than ever. She gestures emphatically at her brother Ravana, urging him to find a way to destroy Rama, perhaps by kidnapping Rama\u2019s wife. More gold has been lavished on this painting than any other known from the \u201cShangri\u201d Ramayana, suggesting that it is meant to stand out as a scene of primary importance.",
"external_resources": {
"wikidata": [
"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q60483058"
],
"internet_archive": [
"https://archive.org/details/clevelandart-2018.107-ravanas-sister-shurp"
]
},
"citations": [
{
"citation": "Cummins, Joan. Vishnu: Hinduism\u2019s Blue-Skinned Savior. Grantha, 2011.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: cat. no. 80.",
"url": ""
},
{
"citation": "McGill, Forest, ed. The Rama Epic: Hero, Heroine, Ally, Foe. San Francisco: Asian Art Museum, 2016.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: cat. no. 118, pp. 203, 228.",
"url": ""
},
{
"citation": "Griswold, William, Cameron Kitchin, Chase F. Robinson, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cincinnati Art Museum, and National Museum of Asian Art (Smithsonian Institution). Pahari Paintings: Art and Stories, edited by Sonya Rhie Mace, Sarang Sharma, and Vijay Sharma. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2026.",
"page_number": "Mentioned and reproduced: p. 92--98, no. 17c",
"url": ""
}
],
"url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/2018.107",
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"date_created": "2018-08-31T12:15:59",
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"creditline": "Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection; Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund",
"image_credit": null,
"sketchfab_id": null,
"sketchfab_url": null,
"gallery_donor_text": null,
"athena_id": 314241,
"creators": [],
"legal_status": "accessioned",
"accession_date": "2018-09-04T00:00:00-04:00",
"sortable_date": 1680,
"date_added_to_oa": null,
"date_text": "c. 1700",
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"is_nazi_era_provenance": false,
"impression": null,
"alternate_titles": [
"Ravana\u2019s sister is complaining that her nose was cut off by Lakshman as the demons prepare to depart to capture Sita, from the \u201cShangri\u201d Ramayana series",
"Ravana\u2019s sister complains that her nose was cut off by Lakshmana as the demons prepare to depart to capture Sita, from the \u201cShangri\u201d Ramayana",
"Ravana\u2019s sister Shurpanakha complains that Lakshmana cut off her nose and ears, from Chapter 31 of the Aranya Kanda (Book of the Forest) of a \u201cShangri\u201d Ramayana (Rama\u2019s Journey)",
"Shurpanakha demands vengeance, from the \"Shangri\" Ramayana"
],
"is_highlight": false,
"updated_at": "2026-08-31 13:31:06.018000"
}
}