Hanuman Fights for Sita

Hanuman Fights for Sita

ca. 1680s

India, Malwa

Ink and watercolor on paper
Framed: 11 1/4 x 14 1/2 in. (28.6 x 36.8 cm)
Image (visible): 7 3/4 x 11 1/8 in. (19.7 x 28.3 cm)

2015.016.002

Numbered "52" on verso.

Having penetrated the citadel of Lanka, Hanuman finds Sita imprisoned in a grove of ashoka trees (upper left). Sita, diminutive and vulnerable in her translucent sari, her eyes cast downward in piety and terror, refuses to be taken away by Hanuman, as she will allow no man but her husband to touch her. Rama himself must wage war on the kingdom of Lanka to ensure her safe return. As Hanuman departs from his meeting with Sita, Ravana dispatches general after general to defeat the monkey. Hanuman crushes each in turn, leaving them maimed and bleeding in the grove, one shown having lost his arm. While other paintings portray demons as fierce, animal-like creatures, here the demons appear as Rajput noblemen, wearing turbans and regal clothes, signaling their high status in a wealthy kingdom and the potential for appearances to deceive.

Gift of Jayantilal K. and Geeta J. Patel & Family to further the study of Hinduism

© Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University. Photo by Bruce M. White, 2015.

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