Three Waves Painting

About the Artwork
Based on the Maldivian Folk story Oḍitān Kalēge and His Wife

"When Oḍitān Kalēge saw his wife, Dōgi Āihā’ become a monster at night, he decided that he had to stop her bloodshed there and then. Thus the sorcerer fathered firewood and built a fire close to her. Furious at seeing him, she raised three huge waves of fire from the sea and hurled them after him. The massive effort left her exhausted and she died. Meanwhile, Oḍitān Kalēge saw the three flaming waves fast approaching him. Being near an islet, he hastily made for its beach. The moment he stepped on the sand, he was beyond their reach. Hence, they turned into waves of water, and so he was saved. 

To this day, at a point near the beach of Golā Konā in Haddummati Atoll, ocean swells break constantly into series of three waves. Natives of the atoll attribute this natural wonder to Dōgi Āihā Kāṅlēge. They say that her magic fire waves became normal ones and stayed there forever". - Xavier Romero-Frias, Oḍitān Kalēge and His Wife, Folk Tales of the Maldives, 2012.