Yama Hina Item Number: 3392/30 from the MOA: University of British Columbia
A watercolour painting which depicts a spiritual being holding a blade over each shoulder. The being's skin is brown, and it has four arms. The being is wearing a blue skirt that ends just below the knee and curls outward at the hip. The bottom of the skirt has a border made up of white, yellow, blue, and brown horizontal stripes. The main body of the skirt is covered in thinner horizontal stripes, and consists of two pieces which come together in the front. A piece of fabric hangs down from the waist. Adornments are wrapped around the being's chest and neck. Decorative bands encircle its biceps, wrists, and ankles. The being has three eyes, and a grinning, fanged mouth. It is wearing a headpiece that comes to points on both sides. Two large discs protrude from the sides of its head. The two arms not holding blades hang down by the being's sides. One of them is holding a small, disembodied face, and the other is empty. At one of the being's feet is rounded triangular shape with lines radiating from its centre. The background of the painting is turquoise, and a rectangular black border surrounds the image. There is a rounded, unpainted section behind the being's head and shoulders.
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.
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.