The incredible fine detail of Moghul Miniatures is fascinating. These are illustrations "borrowing" from that tradition for a story I wrote for my friend's little daughter. Though admittedly each one was not done with a fine, single-hair brush nor did each take six months to complete as they would traditionally be!
It's a version of the Ramayana told by a tree squirrel.
You see these little creatures everywhere in India. My cousin told me they're pests if they get into a house because, like rats and mice, they eat anything.
But nobody hurts them - because it's said that the three stripes you see on the back of a tree squirrel are the marks of Rama's fingers, as a blessing and thank you to the little creatures for helping the soldiers of the monkey king Hanuman to build a bridge from the Indian Mainland to Sri Lanka, where Rama’s wife, Sita, was being held captive by the multi-headed Lankan demon king Ravana.
