Bhima Swarga
| Title | Bhima Swarga |
|---|---|
| Subtitle | The Balinese Journey of the Soul |
| Category | Paintings |
| Author | Idanna Pucci |
| Publisher | Little, Brown & Company, Canada |
| Published | 1992 |
| Language | English |
| ISBN-ASIN | 9780821218969 |
Summary
"Never has a particular visual creation from Bali been more beautifully captured than in this stunning volume."
- New York Times Book Review
The legions of readers who discovered Asian mythology through Joseph Campbell's Power of Myth series will delight in this marvelous retelling of an episode from the Balinese version of the ancient Indian epic, The Mahabharata. In the story, the hero Bhima travels to the afterlife much as Dante did in The Divine Comedy or Odysseus did in The Odyssey. Along the way he encounters the gruesome punishments in store for the sinners of the world, and also the sweet rewards of heaven for the righteous. His adventures are told with an enchanting combination of broad humor and serene acceptance of life's inevitable vagaries. The accompanying photographs portray the gilded panels from the ceiling of the Palace of Justice on Bali. These narrative paintings have told the Bhima Swarga story to countless fascinated viewers from all over the world.
"The energy of the paintings in the Palace of Justice is illuminated by the story Pucci tells to lead us into the Balinese universe of myth and morality."
- Barbara Stoler Miller Barnard College, Columbia University
