An illustration from the Yuddha Kanda or Lanka Kanda of the 'Shangri Ramayana', Style III: Rama and Lakshmana bound by Indrajit's weapon, North India, Pahari Hills, Bahu (Jammu) or Kulu, 1700-10

Christie's London, 26 May 2016, lot 63.

This is an illustration from Book 6, the Yuddha Kanda (Book of War) also known as the Lanka Kanda (Book of Lanka). Indrajit, the eldest son of Ravana, was able to annihilate most of the vanara (monkey) armies of Sugriva with the help of a celestial weapon on the first day of the battle at Lanka. He then called for Rama and Lakshmana on the battlefield. Using another powerful weapon, known as nagapasha (a noose made of serpents), he shackled the two brothers with several venomous snakes. They are depicted lying beside each other holding on to their bows. The two figures on their right are probably the monkey king, Sugriva, and his nephew Angada, conversing with Jambavan, the king of the bears, and Vibhisana, the younger brother of Ravana and Rama’s ally. Hanuman wearing a cap stands to the left along with other generals of the vanara army. The monkeys fleeing in the background are probably trying to escape from Indrajit. Hanuman asked Garuda, the bird vehicle of Lord Vishnu, for help to free the brothers. Garuda as an eagle was a natural enemy of the serpents.

This painting belongs to a well-known series knows as the ‘Shangri’ Ramayana because it once belonged to the rulers of Shangri, a branch of the Kulu royal family. W.G. Archer initially thought the series had been produced at Kulu. He distinguished four classifications within the series based on painting styles. The present painting has been executed in Style III which was mainly used for jungle scenes and for episodes concerning Hanuman and the monkey army (Archer 1973, Vol.I, pp.325-9). Goswamy and Fisher disagreed with Archer’s attribution and suggested that Styles I and II of the series had been produced in Bahu near Jammu. This was based on similarities with portraits of Raja Kirpal Dev and Raja Anand Dev of Bahu (Goswamy and Fischer 1992, pp.76-81). In the catalogue accompanying the exhibition of the Kronos Collections at the Metropolitan Museum, New York in 2016, all four styles are thought to have been produced at Bahu (Jammu) in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century (McInerney et al, 2016, p.136). For three further illustrations executed in Style III see ibid., cat. nos.58-60; pp.168-173).

The illustrations painted in Style III are noteworthy for their wonderful human-like portraits of the monkeys, the exuberant colours employed, and the clear narrative in the scenes which are depicted against a minimal background. For other paintings illustrating Rama and Lakshmana bound by serpent arrows, see Sotheby’s New York, 6 October 1990, lot 115 and Topsfield (ed.) 2004, no.49, pp.130-1.

Other illustrations from this series are in a number of collections including the National Museum, Delhi, the Bharat Kala Bhavan, Varanasi, the British Library, London, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, the Rietberg Museum, Zurich, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the San Diego Museum of Arts (Edwin Binney 3rd Collection), the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Portland Museum of Art.

Further examples have been sold in these rooms 15 July 1970, lots 161-183, 23 March 1973, lot 120, 9 July 1974, lots 207-8, 10 October 1977, lots 100-1, 24 April 1979, lot 164, 14 December 1987, lots 92-95, 11 April 1988, lots 68-70, 10 October 1988, lots 117-9, 29 April 1992, lots 13-15, 23 April 1997; and in our New York rooms, 21 May 1981, lot 99, 21 September 1985, lots 422-4, 22 March 1989, lot 155, 21 March 1990, lot 30, 6 October 1990, lots 46-48, 115, 2 June 1992, lots 155-6, 23 March 1995, lot 125, 19 September 1996, lot 181, 19 March 2008, lot 232, 19 September 2008, lot 246, 19 March 2014, lot 10. ‘The Lustration of Sugriva’, formerly in the Khosrovani-Diba Collection, sold more recently at Sotheby’s London, 19 October 2016, lot 26.