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Description

A watercolour painting which depicts a spiritual being with an elephant at its feet. The being is facing to the left, and has yellow skin, four arms, and five heads. It is wearing a brown skirt that ends at the knee. Decorations on both sides of the skirt curl outward at the hip. The bottom of the skirt has a border made up of white, blue, yellow, 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 waistband, which is decorated with a repeating circular pattern. A blue, dotted sash is draped diagonally across the being's chest. Additional adornments wrap around its chest and neck, and decorative bands encircle its biceps, wrists, and ankles. Each of the being's five heads has a third eye in the centre of its forehead. The centre head is the largest, and has stretched earlobes which extend to its chin. It is wearing a tall, rounded headpiece with side panels that extend across both of its shoulders. There is a tiered, pointed adornment on the front of the headpiece. The other four heads are also wearing tall, rounded headpieces. All four of the being's arms are raised by its sides, and three are holding objects, including a white, oblong object, a yellow, rectangular object, and a small, rounded container with a pointed top and flat bottom. The elephant at the being's feet is kneeling, and has its trunk wrapped around one of the being's ankles. The elephant is blue, with short tusks, a long tail, and triangular ears. It is wearing a flat, white headpiece. The painting's background is turquoise, and a rectangular black border surrounds the image.

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.

Iconographic Meaning

Identified as a Raksha (demon)/Yakka; mischievous or evil.

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.