Leaf from a Kalighat album: Jatayu hinders Ravana’s chariot, trying to prevent the abduction of Sita (recto); Dushyanta watching his son Bharat playing with the tiger at the end of the Abhijnanashakuntalam (verso)

The leaf was created in 1890 in Kolkata, where the Kalighat painting tradition flourished during the late nineteenth century. It is classified as a painting and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, where it is catalogued under accession number 2003.109.

No information about the original commissioner, the artist, or earlier owners is recorded in the available sources.

The work is a double‑sided painting from the Kalighat tradition, each side presenting a separate narrative scene. The recto illustrates a mythic episode in which a bird‑like figure with green wings and a yellow body intervenes in Ravana’s chariot to thwart the abduction of Sita. The verso shows a man dressed in green observing his son Bharat as the child plays with a tiger, a moment drawn from the conclusion of the play Abhijñānaśakuntalam.

Kalighat paintings emerged from the vicinity of the Kalighat temple, where artists catered to pilgrims and urban patrons. Their subjects often merged Hindu epics with contemporary theatrical motifs, as seen in the juxtaposition of a Ramayana episode with a scene from Abhijñānaśakuntalam. This synthesis reflects the period’s cultural exchange between traditional religious narratives and the popular stage.