Scenes from a Legendary Epic

According to some scholars, the "Ramayana" is the greatest story never told in the West. Familiar throughout South Asia to over a billion of the world's peoples, the beloved, 2,000-year-old tale is the story of four characters: Rama, a selfless prince or reincarnated god whose father exiles him to the forest for 14 years, a fate he accepts with grace and without complaint; Sita, his lovely, long-suffering, dutiful wife who follows him into poverty and isolation but is kidnapped and held captive on an island kingdom by the vengeful, red-faced Ravana, a 10-headed, multi-limbed demon lord; and Hanuman, the steadfast, exceptionally erudite warrior monkey known for his lively conversation, who allies himself with Rama and mobilizes a legion of monkeys to rescue Sita. Hanuman is described as the life of the party, a lover and a fighter visualized as a superhero in a 1982 photolithograph. But with his bulging eyes and bared, jagged teeth, he's definitely someone better to have as friend than foe.

This relatively simple story of good and evil has found expression across multiple mediums, from painting, sculpture, dance and stage performance to television serials, cornball movies and comic books; it has even popped up on YouTube. A crash course in the legend, its myriad interpretations and underlying old-world values can now be had courtesy of the Asian Art Museum's newest exhibition, "The Rama Epic: Hero, Heroine, Ally, Foe." With artworks dating back 1,500 years, it features 145 old and contemporary objects - gilded wood sculptures, terracotta reliefs, ancient bronzes, exquisite ink & watercolors on paper and painted narrative scrolls, startling theatrical masks and video clips. In yet another example of the museum's knack for creative display design, large, intricately carved shadow puppets are shown on one side of a case, while the shadow, as it would have looked to audiences, can be viewed on the other.

A full complement of on-site performances are scheduled through the run of the exhibition, along with live bards who will visit the galleries on weekends and spontaneously spin a yarn related to sequences in the story, and instead of the standard audio tour with commentary by curators, the narration is dramatized and performed like a radio play to bring the imagery to life. The multiple avenues of entry into the storytelling experience are inventive, but if there's a criticism of the show, it's that it tries to go in too many directions at once.

A 10-minute short playing on a loop in the first room lays the groundwork for the fascinating history of the epic, which originated in India, spread to Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar, and surfaced in Europe nearly 350 years ago. Its earliest rendition, thought to have been written 2,000 years ago by the poet Valmiki, a Homeresque figure - or an amalgam of several authors - has since morphed into numerous versions in dozens of languages. Its closest Western counterpart, after the Arthurian legend, may be "Star Wars," which also relies heavily on myth to impart life lessons, and has reached untold millions around the world.

The "Ramayana" arrived at a time when the world was in disarray, self-absorption was pervasive, as were violence, hunger for power and abuse of women - sound familiar? The saga filled the need for an ethical template of decency, goodness and compassion, qualities embodied by Rama, the self-sacrifice of his wife, and the unswerving devotion of Hanuman - all of whom triumphed over Ravana, the evil Id incarnate. It also served both as a caution to women and children to obey and submit to patriarchal rule, and a model for monarchs striving to align themselves with the better angels of Rama's nature.

The show is organized around the four characters, each with its own gallery, a fine 1,000-year-old bronze likeness, except for Ravana, and an array of eclectic artworks. Sita, for instance, inspired a dreamy, Chagall-like pastel portrait (1893) by French Symbolist artist Odilon Rodon, who imagines her as a celestial entity floating above the earth in an azure blue, star-flecked sky. It hangs next to a photograph of dancers Ted Shawn and Ruth St. Denis in a 1918 production of "The Abduction of Sita." Ravana, the villain of the piece and the most complex and compelling of the quartet, is shown in various formats, rabid, raging, and/or riding into town like an outlaw on the back of a mythical bird with a multi-color fan tail and talons depicted in an amazing Indonesian wood sculpture (1800-1900) from the Asian's collection. Despite his satanic appearance and dastardly deeds, he's said to have been a creature of duality, engendering the love of his many wives and the loyalty of a faithful retinue who mourned his passing. Even Mussolini reportedly had a soft spot for animals and children.

In true Hollywood focus-group fashion, there are two alternate endings detailed in the exhibition's final room: One happy, one not so much. In the former, Rama reigns for thousands of prosperous years with Sita by his side; in the latter, he's tormented and suspicious of Sita's fidelity. Despairing, she's embraced by Mother Earth and sinks into oblivion; he wades into a river, returning to the heavens where the two are reunited. Talk about delayed gratification.

Through Jan. 15, 2017. Info: asianart.org