Public domain; digital scan hosted by the Digital Library of India via Internet Archive.
This illustration from Chheleder Ramayan (1897) depicts Bharata bowing low to touch Rama’s paduka (sandals) to his forehead, illustrated with the caption “এখন হইতে এই পাদুকাই আমাদের রাজা” (“From now on, these sandals are our king”). The scene falls at the emotional climax of the Ayodhyakanda section of Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury’s retelling. After King Dasharatha dies of grief six days into Rama’s exile, and after Bharata — devastated to learn his mother Kaikeyi engineered Rama’s banishment — refuses the throne and leads a vast army into the forest to bring Rama home, the brothers reunite at Chitrakuta by the Mandakini river. There, Rama performs the water‑rite for their father but, despite pleading from the sage Vasishtha and the priest Jabali, refuses to break his exile vow. It is at this impasse that Bharata asks for Rama’s sandals instead, carrying them back to Ayodhya to rule only as regent in his brother’s name.
Materially, the image is a pen‑and‑ink line drawing reproduced by halftone block, the printing method Upendrakishore developed himself after the original woodcut blocks for this book failed to capture his linework. The stripped‑down composition — Rama’s figure cropped at the shin, all visual and emotional weight placed on Bharata’s bowed devotion — reflects both his simplified, child‑legible illustration style and the wider Ramayana visual tradition in which the paduka functions as a stand‑in for the absent king’s body and authority.
The illustration from Chheleder Ramayan (1897) depicts Bharata bowing before Rama’s sandals (paduka), symbolising his deep devotion, humility, and loyalty to his elder brother. The caption, “From now on, these sandals are our king,” highlights the sandals as a substitute for Rama’s physical presence and royal authority. Although Bharata is offered the throne, he refuses to replace Rama and instead accepts the sandals as a symbol of legitimate kingship, ruling Ayodhya only as his brother’s regent. The simple pen-and-ink composition focuses attention on Bharata’s bowed body and the sandals, making the emotional relationship immediately understandable. The image also reflects Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury’s simplified, child-friendly illustration style and his experimentation with printing techniques. More broadly, the paduka represents the idea that kingship belongs to Rama even in his absence, emphasizing duty, loyalty, sacrifice, and rightful authority.
