Sufferings of the condemned

Southeast Asian Collection

Accession Nr.: 53.213.1
Type: painting; textile
Date of production:
first half of the 20th century
Place of production:
Materials/Techniques: textile (cotton cloth), watercolour, varnished
Dimensions: height: 102 cm
width: 88 cm
A Balinese depiction of hell with assorted punishments, with stylistic features from the village of Kamasan.

The Javanese epic Bhima Swarga (Bhima in Heaven) also tells the journey of the Pandawa hero, Bhima, who must first descend to the underworld (Neraka) to obtain the water of immortality (amrita) and there free his sin-bearing father Pandu and his wife Madu.
One of the most beautiful examples of this story, which has become an extremely popular one in Bali, is the decoration of the Kerta Ghosa pavilion in Klunkung.