~ madhubani painting: Rama hunts the golden deer ~
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In the Hindu epic the Ramayana, the powerful king Ravana becomes smitten with Rama's wife Sita and arranges to distract her husband in order to abduct her. He dispatches a trusted associate, capable of shape-shifting, who transforms himself into a golden deer that lures Rama away from his forest camp. As the deer is slain by Rama's arrow, the demon emerges. But by that time it is too late: Sita has been carried away by Ravana. (However, this interpretation of the painting is debatable due to the horse-like tail and cow-like udder on the horned "deer." It is possible that the theme is one of the epic ordeals of the youthful Gopala Krishna who was challenged by a series of demons that sought unsuccessfully to destroy him.)
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