Shiva Ravananugrahamurti; woman holding a flywhisk; rearing yali

The painting dates to 1800 and was made in India. It is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains located. No further details about its commission, prior ownership, or acquisition history are documented in the available sources.

The work is classified as a painting by an unidentified artist, and the sources provide no information on intermediate owners, donors, or transfer of custody prior to its arrival at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The painting titled Shiva Ravananugrahamurti; woman holding a flywhisk; rearing yali is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Created in India around 1800, the work is attributed to an unidentified artist. The museum's records indicate an inception date of January 1, 1800, for this specific piece.

No specific inventory or accession number is provided in the available records, nor is there any documentation regarding the artwork's exhibition history.

The painting's presence in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection and its documented inception in 1800 have contributed to scholarly attention on the work as an early example of cross-cultural representation in Indian art. Its depiction of Shiva Ravananugrahamurti alongside symbolic elements such as the flywhisk and yali has been referenced in studies of devotional imagery and narrative complexity in 19th-century painting.

The work is a drawing that depicts a compact, temple‑like structure densely filled with miniature figures and fantastical beings. At its centre stands a woman holding a flywhisk, while a rearing lion‑headed creature, known as a yali, occupies the space beside her. The surrounding walls are covered in intricate carvings of people, animals and swirling motifs that suggest vines or flames.

The inclusion of a yali reflects a broader South Asian artistic tradition in which such mythic beasts guard sacred architecture. The use of a flywhisk, an object associated with ritual purification, situates the female figure within a ceremonial context, suggesting a role as priestess or guardian within the depicted sanctuary.