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Devas01 / 02

Ten portraits, two intertwined traditions. An NFT illustration collection drawing on figures from Hindu and Balinese mythology, made by Rahadil Hermana.

A collection in ten faces

Five subjects from Hindu traditions and five situated here in Balinese traditions. Across the series, deities appear alongside guardians, a mythic bird and characters from ritual drama.

Artwork Rahadil Hermana

Producer and art director Romy Randev

Explore the portraits ↓Balinese figures ↓

All ten Devas illustrated figures arranged in a row on black, from Barong to Hanuman — Devas · the complete illustrated collection On smaller screens, scroll to see all ten →

The idea

Myth, translated into portraiture.

The design challenge was to give ten distinct figures a coherent illustrated presence without treating their different traditions as interchangeable. The works share an ornate, high-contrast language: faces and masks emerge from a completely black field.

These short reading notes introduce the traditional figures rather than claiming a single definitive telling. Romy Randev produced and art-directed the collection; Rahadil Hermana made the illustrations.

01 / Five portraits

Figures from Hindu traditions

Five figures with roots in Hindu stories and worship, shown here as Rahadil Hermana’s contemporary illustrated portraits.

Rahadil Hermana / Devas

Brahma

Brahma is the creator in Hindu accounts of the cosmos and is often depicted with four faces. He is associated with the Vedas and is one of the three figures of the trimurti, alongside Vishnu and Shiva.[1]

Rahadil Hermana / Devas

Ganesha

The elephant-headed Ganesha is a deity of beginnings, invoked before new undertakings. He is also known as the remover of obstacles, making his image a familiar presence at thresholds and moments of change.[2]

Rahadil Hermana / Devas

Hanuman

Hanuman is the monkey hero of the Ramayana who helps Rama find Sita and face Ravana. His courage and unwavering service to Rama have made him a figure of strength and devotion.[3]

Rahadil Hermana / Devas

Shiva

Shiva is a major Hindu deity associated with transformation and the dissolution of the cosmos. He is also portrayed as an ascetic and yogi, and is revered as supreme in Shaiva traditions.[4]

Rahadil Hermana / Devas

Vishnu

Vishnu is associated with preserving cosmic order and restoring dharma. Stories of his earthly avatars include Rama and Krishna, while Garuda appears as his bird-like mount.[5]

02 / Five portraits

Figures in Balinese traditions

Five figures connected to Balinese mythology, performance and ceremonial life in Indonesia. Garuda also belongs to the wider Hindu world; these are not all gods.

Rahadil Hermana / Devas

Barong

In Balinese performance, Barong is a protective figure who confronts Rangda. Their encounter does not end in a simple final victory: ritual drama holds the forces they represent in balance.[6]

Rahadil Hermana / Devas

Celuluk

Celuluk is a leyak figure in Balinese storytelling, associated with Rangda. The mask’s exaggerated teeth and unsettling expression belong to a performance tradition in which fear and theatricality meet.[7]

Rahadil Hermana / Devas

Garuda

Garuda is the bird-like mount of Vishnu, a figure shared across Hindu traditions rather than originating only in Indonesia. In Indonesia his image also became a national emblem, linking an older mythic figure to modern public identity.[5][8]

Rahadil Hermana / Devas

Rangda

Rangda is the formidable queen of witches in Balinese Calonarang drama. Her encounters with Barong are often understood through the continuing tension between opposing powers, not a once-and-for-all defeat.[9][6]

Rahadil Hermana / Devas

Sidakarya

Sidakarya is a character in a sacred Balinese masked dance performed in connection with Hindu ceremonies. The performance signals a ceremony’s successful completion, giving this image a specifically ritual context.[10]

Reading notes

Sources for the figures

The references below informed the descriptions of the traditional figures; they are starting points for further reading.

Selected work

Ten faces. A shared visual world.

The collection shows how art direction and production can hold distinct illustrations together without flattening their differences.

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