Parthayajna Tabing: Arjuna's Journey to Mt Indrakila

Kamasan, Bali, Parthayajna, Tabing, c1930s, pigment on European cotton cloth, 105 x 120 cm. Other Notes: This small tabing depicts scenes from the Parthayajna (Arjuna's journey to Mt Indrakila). In the bottom scene the gods Kama and Ratih are on a rock in the Company of eight celestial maidens. In the small left scene above this Arjuna, Twalen and Merdah watch them at play (their charms give rise to doubts about his ability to do penance). In the scene to the right Arjuna emerges from his hiding place and makes himself known to Kama and Ratih and Kama explains the way to Mt Indrakila. In the top scene Nalamala (the giant who sprang to life from the tongue of Uma before the birth of Gana) is depicted wearing a Crown with an elephant head protruding from it, accompanied by a troop of three ogres emerging from the water