Illustration to the Ramayana--Preparations before The Attack on Lanka

Ca. 1820

India, Himachal Pradesh, Perhaps Hindur

Opaque watercolor and gold on paper

Image only, Not Framed H. 11 1/4 x L. 16 1/2 in. (28.6 x 41.9 cm)

Asia Society, New York: Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Acquisitions Fund, 2002.3

This painting depicts Rama, the protagonist of the epic Ramayana, seated with a vast expanse of water separating him from the abode of the demon Ravan (Lanka) indicated in the upper right hand corner. This is a moment just before the Pandavas launched their attack on Lanka to rescue the goddess Sita from Ravana’s clutches. Rama is surrounded by his brother Lakshmana and the monkey armies with their generals Hanuman and Sugriva. Between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries many Indian painters flocked to the courts of rulers in the Western Himalayas, driven by the instability of the Mughal courts. They developed a stylized form of painting we call Pahari (of the mountains), exemplified by this work.