An illustration from the 'Shangri' Ramayana Lanka Kanda: Hanuman attacks demons with a boulder

The current and following lots belong to a series of illustrations known as the 'Shangri' Ramayana after Shangri, the place of residence of the branch of the Kulu royal family formerly in possession of the largest portion of these paintings. W. G. Archer found Kulu the most likely origin for the series but more recently B. N. Goswamy has attempted to reattribute the Ramayana series to Bahu (Jammu), since there are three inscribed portraits of Bahu nobles in this style. However, these depictions may have been done as records of visiting dignitaries, since there are also portraits of Mankot rulers completed in a similar idiom.  Thus the final attribution of the origin for the 'Shangri' Ramayana remains problematic.  

W. G. Archer distinguishes four styles within the series and the current work is from a relatively small group in what he terms 'Style III.'  Other leaves from this series are in the National Museum, New Delhi; Bharat Kala Bhavan, Benares; British Museum; Victoria and Albert Museum and several important private collections.  Also see Randhawa, 1959, pls. 16 & 18; and Archer, 1973, vol. I, pp. 325-9 and vol. II, pls. 1-5, pp. 238-243. For two other leaves from the same series see Sotheby's, New York, April 1, 2005, lots 108 & 109.