Manthan
This piece depicts the Manthan, also known as Samudra Manthan or Kshir-sagar Manthan as described in the Puranic texts.
Once Sage Durvāsa was wandering with a garland of flowers culled from the trees of heaven. When he beheld Indra - the ruler of the three worlds seated on his elephant Airāvata, he threw the garland towards him, and he put it around Airāvata's brow. The bees around the flowers irritated Airāvata, who then threw the garland and stomped it with his feet. The sage, infuriated by this response, cursed the intoxicated god causing him to lose all his opulence and power. The Devas succumbed to the offensive power of the Asuras due to said curse, leaving them powerless and defeated.
The Devas appealed to Lord Vishnu, who suggested that they form a truce with the Asuras, and churn the ocean of milk/Kshir-Sagar to obtain Amrit - the nectar of immortality. Lord Vishnu assured that even though both sides would be churning, the Devas would reap the benefit. Indra approached Māhābali and the other Asuras, who happily agreed to go along with the plan expecting to obtain their share of Amrit. Thus, an alliance was formed, and using Vāsuki as the rope and Mount Mandara as the churning rod the churning began. The Devas pulled from the tail end, while the Asuras pulled from the hood. Vishnu, in various incarnations, facilitated the churning - by holding the mountain from the top, supporting it from the bottom in the Kurma incarnation, and in other forms. Because of the force and friction caused by the churning, various trees, herbs and other paraphernalia dropped from the mountain, which was covered in lightening and smoke due to said friction, into the ocean. Vasuki, from his multiple hoods, started breathing fire and smoke due to the toll the process was taking on his body. This smoke incapacitated the Asuras who were closer to the hood.
After an extensive amount of churning, various gems, artifacts, supernatural animals and other beings began to emerge from the ocean. The ones depicted in this canvas are Chandra, Ucchaisravas - the seven headed horse, Airavata and his wife Abhramu followed by seven elephants each constituting the Diggaj/the directional elephants, Parijata - the wish fulfilling tree, Kāmadhenu - the wish fulfilling cow, Lord Vishnu's conch, bow and mace, various Apsarās, Vāruni - the Goddess of wine, Lakshmi - the Goddess of fortune and finally Dhanvantri, the physician, carrying the much awaited Amrit. The churning also engendered a deadly poison known as Halāhal, which spread throughout the universe, causing destruction. Lord Shiva, the only one capable of dealing with calamities of such magnitude was approached for help. Shiva cupped his palms and swallowed the poison, and the remainder of it was absorbed by venomous insects, animals and poisonous plants. This heroic feat left its mark on Shiva's throat, turning it blue owing to the potency of the poison.
As soon as the Asuras saw Dhanvantri emerging with Amrit, they made a run for it and snatched it. The Devas did not bother hankering as they had been advised by Vishnu not to do so. Following this, Lord Vishnu as Mohini enchanted the Asuras and suggested that the Amrit be divided peacefully, since greed and anxiety could cause their own fellow comrades to be deprived of their share. The Devas were given Amrit, while the Asuras weren't. Svarbhānu, one of the more perceptive Asuras, noticed this. He sneaked his way into the group of Devas and sipped the share of Amrit offered to him. Suryadev and Chandradev noticed this chicanery and informed Lord Vishnu, who beheaded Svarbhānu with his chakra. However, because he had already taken the sip, the head managed to stay alive and obtained immortality. Following this distribution of Amrit, a long battle takes place wherein the Devas emerge victorious.
This frame captures the climax of the manthan i.e. the moment when Dhanvantri emerges with the Amrit.
