Artworks

The current painting is from an album of illustrations known as the 'Shangri' Ramayana after Shangri,

the place of residence of a branch of the royal family of Kulu who were formerly in possession of the

largest portion of these paintings. The Shangri Ramayana is widely considered to be one of the most

important narrative series of paintings from the Punjab Hills. The present illustration is from the section

of the epic, which relates the events leading up to the assault on Ravana's stronghold. The scene

illustrates Ravana and Sita in Lanka surrounded by the demons of his court. This climactic scene is

rendered against a bold yellow background dotted with trees, Ravana is seated on a striped green rug

whilst Sita sits demurely in the midst of the grove surrounded by her fanged female captors. Having

successfully abducted Sita from her husband Rama, Ravana wishes to marry her but she refuses. In a

final act of treachery Ravana magically produces Rama’s severed head to try and deceive Sita into

believing that she is now a widower, but still she refuses his advances and instead prays for the

departed soul of her husband.

W. G. Archer, who was one of the first scholars to examine the Shangri Ramayana, divided the paintings

into different stylistic groups. For further discussion concerning the stylistic types see W. G. Archer,

Indian Paintings from the Punjab Hills, London, 1973, vol. 1, p. 328. Paintings from the Shangri

Ramayana series are in the collections of the National Museum, New Delhi; Bharat Kala Bhavan,

Benaras; British Museum and Victoria and Albert Museum amongst others. For other illustrations from

the same series, see Sotheby's New York, April 1, 2005, lots 108 & 109; September 20, 2005, lots 125 &

126; March 29, 2006, lots 157 & 158 and September 19, 2006, lots 9 & 10.