The Book of Gold : The Kanchana Chitra Ramayana of Banaras

Between 1796 and 1814, artists from across India converged on a single royal commission at the court of Banaras — a fully illustrated manuscript of Tulsidas' Ramcharitmanas, so drenched in gold and ambition that it became known as the Kanchana Chitra Ramayana. 548 paintings. Eighteen years. One extraordinary book. Curated by the late Kavita Singh and Parul Singh, this volume brings together nearly eighty pages from the manuscript for the first time — proof that the Indian painting tradition was as alive and inventive in the nineteenth century as it had ever been