The Ramayana (Adventures of Rama) narrates the epic saga of the valiant Prince Rama and his dutiful wife, Princess Sita, who was abducted by Ravana, the arrogant ten-headed King of Lanka (probably modern Sri Lanka), during Rama's unjust fourteen-year forest exile from his capital of Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. To rescue Sita, Rama and his faithful brother Lakshmana assembled a great army of monkeys and bears led by the Monkey-King Sugriva and his Monkey-General Hanuman. After several magical battles, the princess was freed, and the happy couple triumphantly returned home to rule their kingdom.
In this unidentified episode, Rama and Lakshmana watch three animal warriors, two monkeys and a bear, leap across a river to join them. Waterfowl in a lake by a hill also witness the mighty feat.
Additional folios from this dispersed Ramayana series are in the Cleveland Museum of Art (2018.129) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2001.541).
