Gods are back in vogue — in Indian design and fashion

In the fairgrounds of Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan on Dussehra, you can’t help but be a believer. It is a gloriously unpolished affair: tinsel crowns and cardboard chariots lit by harsh floodlights. It is a story that has been retold across the country since forever, and yet, each time one witnesses any version of the Ramayana, it is just as relevant with its universal theme of the victory of good over evil.

But for artist Vikram Goyal, the world of the Ramayana was rarely about its star characters. He trained his eyes, instead, on the other mortals. Jatayu, the demigod vulture; Garuda, the heroic eagle; Sushena, the monkey physician. Goyal felt that no one seemed to notice how central they were to the story, or the many themes of sacrifice and loyalty they embodied.