Cotton-mix, direct-to-film printed T-shirt
 
This is a story that binds the mythic histories of India and Sri Lanka. Traces of ruins, geographical anomalies and place-names scattered through Sri Lanka hint at this story, making us still wonder whether there is some truth to it despite the giants, deities, flying machines and the magic. Hanuman, the monkey god pictured here, is seen on a mission to get help for a prince fatally wounded in war. They were in Lanka, waging war against its emperor, Ravana. The doctors asked Hanuman to use his superhuman speed and strength to return to India and fetch a rare herb from the Himalayas, the impenetrable Everest mountain range. The plant, only identifiable at night from its glow, needed to be administered to the dead prince before life energy drained completely from the body.
 
When Hanuman got to the Himalayas, it was daybreak and too late to spot the glowing plant. Refusing to give up, Hanuman broke apart the part of the mountain and carried it to the doctor in Lanka. According to legend, Hanuman managed to save his friend and win the war. The legend also says that Hanuman dropped five parts of the Himalayas along the way to Lanka, forming Kachchativu island, Thalladi hillock, Dolukanda, Ritigala and most famously, the Roomassala mountain with the lowest gravity on Earth. The distinct microclimates of these five locations, being specially conserved and used as herb gardens by Sri Lanka’s healer-king Buddhadasa, and the stories of their unusual flora not found anywhere else in the island, are still retold in connection to Hanuman, sparking wonder. 
 
* These T-shirts are made from a cotton and polyester blend material and printed using direct-to-film (DTF) printing.