- Title
- Battle Scene with Lakshmana and the Monkeys Fighting Indrajit (?) and the Demons, Folio from a Ramayana (Adventures of Rama)
- Date Made
- circa 1725-1750
- Medium
- Ink on paper
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 7 1/2 x 11 in. (19.05 x 27.94 cm); Image: 6 3/4 x 10 1/4 in. (17.14 x 26.03 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.72.83.2
- Collecting Area
- South and Southeast Asian Art
- Curatorial Notes
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. Rama and Sita epitomize the ideal ruler and the paragon of fidelity in Hindu culture.
This illustration is from Book 6 (Yuddha kanda). Identified by Dogri figural labels, Lakshmana battles the chariot-borne Indrajit (?), the elder son of Ravana who had the boon of invisibility and illusion. After a fierce battle between Lakshmana and Indrajit, aided respectively by their simian and demonic troops, Lakshmana decapitated the powerful demon prince with an arrow charged with the weapon-spell of Indra (Ramayana 6:73-78). Here, Lakshmana and Indrajit exchange arrows while the crowned monkey commanders lead their brethren bearing boulders to hurl at the dying demons.
- Selected Bibliography
- Pal, Pratapaditya. "Ramayana Pictures from the Hills in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art." In Ramayana: Pahari Paintings, edited by Roy C. Craven, 87-106. Bombay: Marg Publications, 1990.
