This is Rama, identified by his posture, holding a bow and arrow. A Rama with bow and arrow in place is a part of this blog site.

Rama is one of the avatars of Vishnu and he is the main character of Ramayana, an itihasa.

This Vigraha is made using the Ganga-Jamuna technique, and it is the fourth such example in my collection. Two of the other three are similar to the subject of this blog and are shown below. In a way, it is surprising I found three similar ones, and all three are in good condition.

Some of the techniques used in making this Vigraha appear to be different from the other two. The crown looks to have been cast separately and then fitted to the rest.

The base is designed to slide into a slot in the stand. This feature, along with the design of the ear ornaments, reinforces the geographic attribution, North Karnataka.

Notable features include rings on his fingers, the pattern on the anklets and the Sira chakra design.

The Vigraha is about 12 cm in height, and it may be dated to early nineteenth century.

Note: In the past, I had mentioned that the art of making Ganga Jamuna is lost. Correction. Sharath Acharya from Udupi makes them. Some of his work is now displayed in the India Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Bangalore.