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Description

A watercolour painting which depicts a spiritual being seated on a horned, four-legged animal. The being has yellow skin, five heads, and eight arms. It is wearing a brown skirt that ends below the knee. Decorations on both sides of the skirt curl outward at the hip. The bottom of the skirt has a thick green border. The main body of the skirt is covered in thinner horizontal stripes, and consists of two pieces which come together in the front. A long piece of fabric hangs down from the skirt's waistband, which is decorated with a repeating circular pattern. A green, striped sash is draped diagonally across the being's chest. Additional adornments encircle its biceps, wrists, and ankles. Around the being's neck is a thicker, black and white decoration that comes to a point at the front. The being's centre head is the largest. It has half-moon shaped eyes, a small mouth, and stretched earlobes which come down to its chin. It is wearing a tall, pointed headpiece with side panels that extend across its shoulders. The being has two additional heads on either side of the main head. They are facing outwards, and each wearing a tall, rounded headpiece. Each of the being's hands is holding an object, including a blue rectangular object, a yellow vase-like object, a thin and pointed object, a fork-like object, an animal head with long, pointed ears, a circular yellow object with black dots, an hourglass-like object with a long handle, and a narrow, jug-like object. One of the being's legs is bent underneath it, and rests on the head and back of a grey, four-legged animal. The other leg is stretched out toward the ground. The animal has a large body, a humped back, long face, and short horns which curve slightly backward. The being and animal are both floating suspended near the top of the page. The painting's background is green, and a rectangular black border surrounds the image. Brown oblong rings radiate from behind the being's heads.

History Of Use

The imagery is possibly associated with ritual healing in Sri Lanka. The set of watercolours (3392/3-34) is said to depict spirits that inhabit planets, or deviyo (minor gods) or rakshas and yakkas (evil or mischievous beings). These beings are often depicted in masked dances and exorcisms.

Narrative

The collector, Dr. Michael Egan, wrote his doctoral thesis on healing rituals in Sri Lanka. His fieldwork was carried out in the south of Sri Lanka, in the village of Kadurupokuna (Hambantota District), between Sept. 1965 and Nov. 1966.